


%. 
/■ 






'^.J" 







'^< 



■^^ C^ '?^i^' -vi. 
















>^ - o « o . -^^ .<}.* . . ' » , ''<?^ 





(• %.** -'Mk'' \/ .*A'-' "^^-^^ •• 

















^*" -^^^^ %^^^^/ ^^' ^'^.^ ^^^Ol^.* V '^ 



<. 















PROBLEMS OF 

THE FAR EAST 



JAPAN— CHINA— KOREA 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN QUESTION 

With 9 Maps, 96 Illustrations, Appendices, 
and an Index. 

2 vols. Svo, 42s. 



London and New York : 
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. 



(-1 




JUS MAJJiSTY LI IISI, KING OF KOliEA 



PROBLEMS 

OF 

THE FAR EAST 

BY THE RIGHT HON. 
GEORGE N. CURZON, M.P. 

LATE FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD, AUTHOR 
OF 'RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA' AND 'PERSIA,' AND GOLD 
MEDALLIST OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 

J A P A N— K O R E A— C H I N A 

NEW AND REVISED EDITION 



' And first we must begin with Asia, to which the first 
place is due, as being the place of the first Men, first Re- 
ligion, first Cities, Empires, Arts ; where the most things 
mentioned in Scripture were done ; the place where Para- 
dise was seated, the Arke rested, the Law was given, and 
whence the Gospell proceeded ; the place which did beare 
Him in His flesh, that by His Wordbeareth up all things.' 
PURCHAS, His P User i 111 cs 



LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
LONDON AND BOMBAY 

iSIDCCCXC.VI. 

All rights rcsc 7-vcd 




1) S 5 1 'S 



/ 



//' ro 



^(^ / ia 



TO THOSE 
WHO BELIEVE THAT THe(bRITISH EMPIRE^ 



/^ 



IS, UNDER PROVIDENCE, THE GREATEST INSTRU MENT FOR GOOD 

THAT THE WORLD HAS SEEN 

AND WHO HOLD, WITH THE WRITER, THAT 

ITS WORK IN THE FAR EAST IS NOT YET ACCOMPLISHED 

THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED 



PREFACE TO NEW AND REVISED 
EDITION 

The first edition of this work appeared in August 1894, 
within a few weeks of the firing of the first shot in the 
Far Eastern War. Of the three nations who had 
furnished its subject matter, two were the protagonists, 
and the third was the victim in that eventful struggle. 
There was good fortune, therefore, in the moment of 
publication. But if this coincidence was undesigned, it 
was attended by a more than proportionate risk. For 
the book itself was less a history, or a narrative, or a 
criticism, than it was a forecast, entered into with only 
so much confidence as was born of a patient examination 
of facts upon the spot, but in ignorance of how soon it 
would be subjected to the rough test of experience. The 
fact that I am able to issue a fourth edition of the book 
— after the conclusion of a war that was seismic both in 
its character and consequences — in substantially the 
same guise as it originally wore, with alterations and 
additions that, while required to bring it up to date, 
only confirm my former argument, is to me a consolatory 
vindication of my venture then, and may, I hope, be 
regarded by others as a sufficient ground for republication 
now. For the causes that, during the intervening year, 
have brought about the collapse of China, the sufferings 



viii PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 

of Korea, and the victory of Japan, are the facts which 
this volume originally endeavoured to set forth, and 
which, so far from being rendered obsolete by the war, 
have been endowed thereby with a fresh vitality. The 
Far Eastern Question has not been closed, but, on the 
contrary, has been reopened by its termination ; and so 
much of my former prophecy as remains unfulfilled I 
am encouraged once more to submit, though with less 
trembling, to the hidden touchstone of the future. 

The central theme of these pages, when first published, 
was the utter rottenness of Chinese administration, and 
the certainty of military disaster in the case of conflict 
with a well-equipped foe ; the confident ambitions and 
swelling power of Young Japan ; the corrupt though 
picturesque imbecility of Korea ; and the onerous respon- 
sibilities likely to be entailed upon Great Britain in the 
inevitable readjustment of Eastern Asia. So little were 
these conditions appreciated at the time that the most 
thoughtful of English newspapers thus criticised my 
argument : — 

''Though Mr. Curzon is a diligent collector of facts^ and 
deserves every credit for his praiseworthy attempts to understand 
tlie problems with which he is confronted, he does not show any 
A'ery strong grasp either of the great issues at stake in the Far East, 
or as to the relative power and capacity of the two nations -which 
are now confronting each otlier. As Mr. Curzon's conclusions are 
necessarily prophetic in their nature, it is not, of course, possible 
as yet to prove him mistaken ; but it cannot be said that he shows 
that instinctive appreciation of international affairs which is re- 
(juisite for those who undertake to diagnose the conditions of three 
such kingdoms as Japan, Korea, and China. ... In spite of Mr. 
Curzon, we believe that the weight of opinion is on the side of those 
who hold, as we do, that China could, if hard put to it, organise a 
most formidable fighting force. Does Mr. Curzon remember what 



PREFACE TO NEW EDITION ix 

Lord Wolseley has said on the subject? He has expi-essed his 
opinion that the one dangei- of the Anglo-Saxon race was meeting 
the Chinese in war, — and this is no abstract opinion, for Lord 
Wolseley helped to beat the Chinese under the walls of Peking. 
'' They possess every military virtue," said Lord Wolseley of the 
Chinese. Mr. Curzon infers that the Chinese are a very unwarlike 
people. The world will, we think, prefer the verdict of a soldier 
who has met the Chinese in battle, to that of a civilian who has 
done little but sniff the evil odours of Peking, and, as he would 
doubtless be tlie first to admit, has nothing that can be called first- 
hand knowledge of China.' 

Somehow or other the evil odours of Peking seem, after 
all, to have left a correct impression upon my civilian 
nostrils ; and so fair-minded a critic as the Spectator will 
not, I am sure, grudge to a writer who has dared to 
prophesy the rare satisfaction of success. 

In this New Edition, which has been carefully revised 
throughout, I have corrected a few mistakes that had 
crept into the first, and have introduced a good deal of 
additional matter, supplied or suggested by the events 
of the past year. The Revision Treaty between Great 
Britain and Japan, and the Treaty of Peace between 
Japan and China, are printed as appendices ; and in a 
fresh chapter I have endeavoured to sum up the main 
issues of the recent conflict, and to forecast its bearing 
upon the Asiatic situation. I should add that the 
greater part of this chapter was written before the late 
change of Government in England, and that it has been 
composed in entire independence of official information 
or authority. 

The Far East, which a year ago was an uncommon, 
has since become a familiar phrase in the terminology of 
International Politics. Its problems, which suggested to 



c 



X PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 

me the title of this book, are and will remain problems 
for many a year to come. Just, however, as these pages, 
in their original form, were the last description, in point 
of time, of an era that has since irretrievably vanished ; 
so in their revised sliape they may invite perusal as the 
first account that has appeared since the war of the new 
world that has been generated amid the clash of arms. 
Not merely, therefore, do they relate the past, but they 
relate to the future. In that future I am confirmed, 
instead of shaken, by all that has occurred, in the belief 
with which I before concluded, that a great part remains 
to be played, if the energy and the courage and the 
sagacity are still forthcoming, by the Government and 
the people of my own country. 

GEORGE N. CURZON. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 

The work of which I here publish the first part, though the 
outcome of two journeys round the world in 1887-88 and 
in 1892-93, does not pretend to be a book of travel. Rather 
is it an attempt to examine, in a comparative light, the 
political, social, and economic conditions of the kingdoms 
and principalities of the Far East. By this title I signify 
the countries that lie between India and the Pacific Ocean. 
They include both the best known and the least known of 
Oriental nations — Japan and China in the former category ; 
Korea, Tongking, Annam, Cochin China, Cambogia, and 
Siam in the latter. In respect of race, religion, and habits, 
Burma should fall within the same class; but since it is 
now an integral portion of the Indian Empire, it will be 
purposely excluded from this survey. 

The above-mentioned counti-ies have each their special 
features of climate, scenery, architecture, religion, and life, 
diffex-entiating them from each other, and still more from 
the rest of the world. To the traveller these idiosyncrasies 
cannot fail to appeal ; nor can he be indifferent to the 
atmosphere of romance in which those fanciful regions, when 
once he has left them, appear ever afterwards to float. To 
such aesthetic impressions I would profess no invulnerability ; 
and the descriptions which will be found in these pages of 
the capitals of Korea and China, and of other scenes, will 
prove the completeness of my occasional surrender. On 
the whole, however, I have relegated these aspects of my 



xii PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 

journeys to the background, and have preferred to discuss 
the problems, perhaps less superficially interesting, but 
incomparably more important, and vastly more abstruse, 
which are suggested by the national character, resources, 
and organisation of those countries as affected by their 
intercourse with foreign or Western Powers. What is the 
part which they are now playing, or are capable of playing, 
on the international stage ? What is the political future 
that may, without foolhardiness of prediction, be anticipated 
for the peoples and lands of the Far East ? 

In preparing and comparing my observations upon these 
countries, I very early found that to attempt to deal with 
the political features of eight different States within the 
compass of a single volume could only be achieved at the 
expense both of unity and exactitude — a conviction which 
was fortified by the natural subdivision of my subject into a 
twofold heading. Japan, Korea, and China, suggest a 
number of problems, substantially similar if not actually 
interconnected. Their maritime outlook is towards the 
Pacific Ocean. The remaining countries of the Far East are 
in a different stage of evolution ; and partly owing to their 
intrinsic weakness, partly to the degree in which they have 
already been brought under European control, illustrate a 
different argument. They are also alike in turning a back- 
ward gaze upon the Indian Seas. Following this natural 
classification, I have confined the present volume to the 
examination of the three first-mentioned States, reserving for 
a future work the territories of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. 

In the case of Japan I must confess to having departed 
widely from the accepted model of treatment. There will 
be found nothing in these pages of the Japan of temples, 
tea-houses, and bric-a-brac — that infinitesimal segment of 
the national existence which the traveller is so prone to 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xiii 

mistake for the whole^ and by doing which he fills the 
educated Japanese with such unspeakable indignation. I 
have been more interested in the efforts of a nation, still in 
pupilage, to assume the manners of the full-grown man, in 
the constitutional struggles through which Japan is passing, 
in her relations with foreign Powers, and in the future that 
awaits her immense ambitions. 

Similarly in China I have been more concerned with the 
internal structure of that mysterious archaism, with the 
policy of its rulers, the strength or weakness of its resources, 
and with the pulse that throbs so defiantly beneath the 
bosom of its amazing people, than with the sights and scenes 
of Treaty Ports, or the superficial features of native existence. 
In Korea I hope that I may claim in some respects to 
break almost new ground. In the few and singularly 
inadequate accounts of that kingdom that have appeared 
in Europe, and that have left it, next to Tibet, the least 
known part of Asia, no serious endeavour has been made 
to examine its political status — a question of great com- 
plexity and of international importance — or to determine 
its bearing upon surrounding States ; and I doubt whether 
to most persons at home Korea is known except as a land 
of white clothes and black hats. If a disproportionate space 
may appear to have been allotted to its treatment, as com- 
pared with that of China and Japan, it will be because of 
an intrinsic novelty that is not yet exhausted, and of a 
general ignorance that in view of present events deserves 
to be appeased. 

If, in spite of a good deal of descriptive matter that may 
perhaps interest or assist both the reader and the traveller, 
it be objected that the trail of politics is over all this work, 
I answer that such is the principal claim that I venture to 
make for it. Other writers of great ability have recorded 



xiv PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 

their impressions of the social or artistic sides of Eastern 
Ufe. But, in their interest in the governed, they have too 
frequently forgotten the government; nor does the photo- 
graph of a fleeting moment lend much assistance to the 
forecast of a wider future. For myself, in essaying this 
more ambitious task, I can honestly disclaim, on the several 
occasions when I have travelled in the East, any a priori 
prepossession for this or prejudice against that people. I 
have no anterior theory to support, and no party interest, 
unless the British Empire be a party interest, to serve. But 
to my vision all the nations of the East seem to group them- 
selves as sections or parts, of varying age and utility, in the 
most wonderful piece of natural and human mechanism that 
the world now presents, namely, the political evolution of 
the Asiatic Continent. What function is fulfilled by each 
in the movement of this vast machine, how far they in- 
dividually retard its progress or contribute to the collective 
thunder of its wheels, is to me the most absorbing of 
problems. What will become of this great fabric in the 
future, whether its minor atoms will break up and split 
asunder, thereby adding to the already formidable strain 
upon the larger units, whether the slow heart of the East 
will still continue to palpitate beneath the superimposed 
restraints of Western force or example, or whether, as has 
been predicted, some tremendous cataclysm may be ex- 
pected, in which the tide of human conquest shall once 
more be rolled back from East to West, are speculations 
to the solution of which I have no fonder wish than to 
subscribe my humble quota of knowledge. 

Finally, these volumes are part of that scheme of work, 
now nearly half realised, which ten years ago I first set 
before myself in the examination of the different aspects of 
the Asiatic problem. What I have already endeavoured to 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xv 

do for Russia in Central Asia, and for Persia, or the countries 
on this side of India, i.e. the Near East — what I hope to be 
able to do hereafter for two other little-known Asiatic 
regions, directly bordering upon India, i.e. the Central East 
— I attempt to do in this volume, and in that which will 
follow it, for the countries lying beyond India, i.e. the Far 
East. As I proceed with this undertaking, the true fulcrum 
of Asiatic dominion seems to me increasingly to lie in the 
Empire of Hindustan. The secret of the mastery of the 
world, is, if only they knew it, in the possession of the 
British people. 

No Englishman need grudge the splendid achievements 
and possessions of the mighty Power whose hand is out- 
stretched over the entire north of Asia, from the Ural 
Mountains to the Pacific. He need not be jealous of the 
new-born Asiatic zeal of our next-door neighbour in Europe. 
He may respect alike the hoary pride of China and the 
impetuous exuberance of renascent Japan. But he will find 
that the best hope of salvation for the old and moribund in 
Asia, the wisest lessons for the emancipated and new, are 
still to be derived from the ascendency of British character, 
and under the shelter, where so required, of British 
dominion. If in the slightest degree I succeed in bringing 
home this conviction to the minds of my countrymen at 
home, I shall never regret the years of travel and of writing 
which I have devoted and hope still to devote to this con- 
genial task. 

My sincere thanks are due, for revision or advice in different 
parts of this work, to Mr. Cecil Spring- Rice, of H.B.M's 
Diplomatic Service, the delightful companion of my later 
journeys; to Mr. W. C. Hillier, H.M. Consul- General in Korea; 
and to Mr. J. N. Jordan, of the British Legation at Peking. 

July 1894. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

THE FAR EAST 



PAGE 



I 



The enchantment of Asia — Her products — Homogeneousness — Contact 
with civilisation— Moral lessons — The Far East — Its idiosyncrasies 
— India the pivot ....... 1 

JAPAN 
CHAPTER II 

THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 

Japanese railways — The streets of Tokio — The Diet — Public opinion 
—Parliamentary symptoms — Rocks ahead — The Ministers and 
Parliament — The Ministry of All the Talents — Expectations — 
Session of 1892-93 — Session of 1893 — The crisis — General Elections 
of 1894 — Real points at issue —1. Clan government — Oligarchy v. 
Democracy — 2. Position of the Sovereign — 3. Ministerial re- 
siJonsibility — The issue — Jajjanese Navj^ — Army — ^ Corroborative 
opinion — Finances — Trade — Manufacturing industries — Attitude 
of Japanese towards foreigners — Schoolboy patriotism — Chances 
of Christianity in Japan . . . . . .13 

CHAPTER III 

JAPAN AND THE POWERS 

Treaty Revision — History of the Treaties — Postponement of Revision 
— The case of Japan— The case of the Powers — Previous attemjits 
at Revision. Count Inouye, 1882-87— Count Okuma, 1888-89— 
Viscount Aoki, 1890 — Bases of settlement — Position of the Codes 
— Fui'ther Postponement — Address to the Throne in 1893— Anti- 
Mixed residence agitation — The Chinese Question — Agitation 
against foreign ownership of property — Other demands— Prospects 
of settlement— The Treaty of July, 1894 . . . .51 

h 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III 



PAGE 



I.— Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and 

Japan (July 1894) 70 

II.— Protocol 79 

KOREA 
CHAPTER IV 

LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 

The fascination of Korea — Literature of the subject — The Treaty 
Ports — Fusan — Gensan — Chemulpo — The Korean people — Total 
l^opulation — Ethnology and language — National character — The 
extremes of society — Necessities of travel — Visit to the Diamond 
Mountains — Korean monks — Monastic life and habits — Buildings 
—Korean religion — Spirit-worship and Confucianism — Conditions 
of travel — Sport — Peasant life — Rural habits — Memorial tablets — 
Tombs — Wayfarers — The Korean inn . . . .85 

CHAPTER V 

THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 

Name of the capital — AValls and gates of Soul — Its situation— Beacon- 
fires — Population and streets — Dirt and ditches — Houses — Street- 
life and costume — Dancing-girls — Hats — Amusements — The Big 
Bell — Shojis — Stone pagoda and pillar — Temples — Red Arrow 
Gate — The painted Buddha — Execution-place — Royal fortresses — 
Sovereignty in Korea — Royal Palaces — East, or New Palace — 
West, or Old Palace — Great Hall of Audience — Summer Palace — 
The King of Korea— The Tai Wen Kun— The King's reign— His 
character— The Queen — The Crown Prince — Theorj^ of monarch j- 
— Audience with the Foreign Minister — Court dress and etiquette 
— Audience with the King — Royal procession — Korean army — 
State review ........ 118 

CHAPTER VI 

POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 

An Asiatic microcosm — Korean administration — Revenue and debt — 
Foreign Treaties — Foreign advisers — Projects and speculations — 
The currency — New Mint and silver coinage — Banks — Obstacles to 
commercial development — Means of communication — Roads — 
River Navigation — Coast Navigation — Railways— Growth of trade 
— Steamship service— Customs service— Smuggling — Native Stand- 



CONTENTS xix 

PAGE 

point— Mines and Minerals— Gold — Future prospects — Missionary 
work in Korea — 1. Persecution — 2. Toleration — English Protestant 
Mission — Native sentiment ...... 16.5 

CHAPTER VII 

THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 

Anomalous ijolitical status of Korea— Connection with Japan — Tribute 
Missions — Friction and rupture — Recovery of influence — Treaty 
of 1876 — Convention of Tientsin in 1885 — Commercial ascendency 
— Political bluster — True laolicy of Japan — Outbreak of war — 
Connection with China — Existing evidences of Korean vassalage — 
Death of the Queen Dowager in 1890 — Thread of Chinese policy. 
1. Repudiation — 2. Neutralisation — Terms of the Treaties — 
Question of envoys — Question of troops at Soul — 3. Practical 
sovereignty — The Chinese Resident — Position of the King — 
Justification of Li Hung Chang — Connection with Russia — 
Aggressive designs — Ad interim plans — Attitude of Great Britain 
— Occupation of Port Hamilton in 1885— The other Powers— The 
carcase and the eagles . . . . . .18 



CHINA 
CHAPTER VIII 

THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 

Transition to China — Tientsin — The Viceroy Li Hung Chang — Inter- 
view— Journe}^ to Peking — Chinese rural life — Entrance to Peking 
— Ground-plan — The three Pekings — Panorama of the streets — 
Native practitioners — The Imperial Palace — The Emjjeror Tung 
Chill — The two Emjjresses-Regent — The Empress Dowager — The 
Emperor Kuang Hsu — Palace routine — The Temple of Heaven^ 
Difficulty of admission — The Annual Sacrifice — The Observatory • 
— Examination building — Drum and Bell Towers — Temple of 
Confucius — Hall of the Classics — Great Lama Temple— Outside 
the walls — The Great Bell — The Summer Palace— Yuan-ming- 
yuan — Wan-shou-shan — The Great Wall — The Ming Tombs — 
British Legation ....... 221 

CHAPTER IX 

CHINA AND THE POWERS 

Relations between Chinese and Europeans — The Tsungli Yamen— A 
Board of Delay — Chinese diplomacy — The Right of Audieiice— 
History — English embassies. Lord Macartney in 1793 — Lord 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



PAGE 



Amherst in 1816— Interval— Audience with Tung Chih in 1873 
and 187'4 — Audience with Kuang Hsu in 1891 — Subsequent 
audiences — Summary of achievement — True significance of the 
dispute — Foreign policy of China — Attitude towards Russia — 
China and the Pamirs— Russia in 1895— Attitude towards Great 
Britain — Anglo-Chinese Trade — Opium Question — Missionary 
Question— Protestant Missions— Their good service— Sowing the 
seed— Objections and drawbacks — 1. Religious and doctrinal. 
Hostility to Chinese ethics— Disputes as to name of the Deity — 
As to the form of religion — Unrevised translations of the Scriptures 
— Christian dogma — Irresponsible itinerancy — 2. Political. History 
of the Treaties— Subsequent understanding —Imperial Edict of 
1891— Chinese sentiments— The appeal for gunboats— Privileges 
claimed for converts — An imjxrium in imperio—'Plea, of Political 
agitation— 3. Practical. Mission life— Employment of women- 
Situation of ♦Buildings — Refusal of converts to subscribe — Belief 
in witchcraft — Horrible charges — Summing up — Results — The 
right policy. Respect for the Treaties — Stricter precautions — 
Choice of material ....... 2(30 



CHAPTER X 

THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 

Is China awake? — A tactical surrender — Railways in China — Man- 
churian Railway — Line to Peking — Great Trunk Line — Hankow 
Line and factories — Formosa Railway — New Schemes — Other 
communications — Military reform — The Manchu and National 
Armies — Discipline — Native officers — European officers — Cost — 
Alleged successes — General Gordon's opinion — General Prjevalski 
— Colonel Bell — The Chinese Navy — The false and the real dangers 
— The mercenaries of Europe — The Press in China — Native enter- 
prise — The curse of officialism — The Mandarinate — The Chinese 
standpoint — The picture of progress — The reality of standstill . 311 



CHAPTER XI 

MONASTICISM IN CHINA 

Chinese Buddhism — Its superstitious sanction — Contradictory opinion 
of monks — Its explanation — Original conception of monasticisni 
— Its inversion — A spiritual insurance — Ostracism of the cloister — 
Popular odium — Common imposture — Different classes of recruits 
— Means of subsistence — Monastic Temples — Entrance gateway 
—Main temple — Service — Vox et prceterea nihil — Tenants of glass 
houses — Procession — Reliquary — Domestic premises — Cremation . 343 



CONTENTS 



THE PROSPECT 
CHAPTER XII 

AFTER THE WAR 

PAGE 

Responsibility for the War — An Eastern Vendetta — Secondary motives 
— Japanese patriotism and prei^arations — Japan on the battlefield 
— Causes of Chinese disaster — Civil corruption — Military incapacity v 
— The Chinese soldier — Effects of the war — 1. Upon China, The 
possible — The jn'obable — 2. Upon Korea. Need for reform — 
Japanese efforts — Proclamation of Korean Independence — A rain 
of Reforms — Japanning all round — Pak and the Queen — Passive 
Resistance — The King — Count Inouye's Confession — Japanese 
Failure — The Power in the Background — 3. Upon Japan. The 
revolt of Asia— Commercial and industrial expansion . . 361 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 



■^ 



Summary — The future of Japan — The Great Britain of the Far East — 
Futui-e of China — The Chinese as aliens— The theory of Chinese 
resurrection — Mr. Pearson's arguments in its favour — The new 
march of the Mongols— Lords of the future — Objection of un- 
occupied area at home — Reasons for disputing Mr. Pearson — 
Alleged successes of China — The Colonial question— Character of 
Chinese colonists — Military weakness of China — Chinese recon- 
quest impossible — The dream of social apotheosis — Influence of 
national character — Lessons of history — Danger of rebellion — The 
real destiny — Race and empire — Is Japan the enemy? . . 390 



CHAPTER XIV 

GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 

The role of Great Britain — Reflex influence upon England — Commercial 
supremacy of Great Britain— Our rivals — Contraction of business 
—Christian Missions— English life in the Far East— The Press — 
Domestic life — English character — British diplomacy — British 
representatives — Suggested libraries of si^ecial reference — Diplo- 
matic anomalies — Future of Great Britain in the Far East — The 
English language ,,..... "113 



xxii PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 

APPENDIX 

PAGE 

I. — Treaty of Shimonoseki between Japan and China (April 1895) . 429 
II.— Imperial Rescript (May 1895) . . . . .434 

INDEX 437 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 



HIS MAJESTY LI HSI^ KING OF KOREA . FrOntispiCCe 

THE JAPANESE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AT TOKIO . To faCB 14 

JAPANESE HOUSE OF PEERS . . . ■ }, 16 

JAPANESE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES . • }} 20 

THE KING IN STATE PROCESSION . . ■ ,) 1^8 

KOREAN CAVALRY AND ROYAL STANDARD . • a 1^2 

MODERN-DRILLED KOREAN INFANTRY . . • }, 164 

TEMPLE AND ALTAR OF HEAVEN . . ■ >, 244 

GREAT WALL OF CHINA . . . • }> 256 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 



MARQUIS ITO ...... 

PORT AND JAPANESE SETTLEMENT OF FUSAN . 

GATE OF NATIVE TOWN^ FUSAN 

PORT OF CHEMULPO ..... 

KOREAN SCHOOLMASTER AND BOYS 

A KOREAN MAGISTRACY 

KEUM KANG SAN^ OR DIAMOND MOUNTAINS 

MONASTERY OF CHANG AN SA IN THE DIAMOND MOUNTAINS 

ABBOT OF A KOREAN MONASTERY 

STREET IN A KOREAN VILLAGE 

A KOREAN" PEASANT FAMILY . 

SOUTH GATE OF SOUL . 

EAST GATE AND WALL OF SOUL 



21 

89 
91 
93 
95 
99 
102 
104 
106 
113 
114 
119 
121 



XXIV 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



MOUNTAIN OF POUK HAN 

BEACON TOWER ON NAM SAN . 

GROUND-PLAN OF SOUL 

THE CITY AND OLD PALACE^ SOUL 

KOREAN SECRETARIES 

KOREAN WAITING-MAID 

THE king's BAND 

KOREAN MOURNER 

TEMPLE OF THE GOD OF WAR AT SOUL 

ARCHWAY OF THE CHINESE COMMISSIONERS 

THE CITY AND NEW PALACE^ SOUL 

GATEWAY OF THE OLD PALACE 

GREAT HALL OF AUDIENCE 

INTERIOR OF THE OLD PALACE 

THE TAI WEN KUN 

THE CROWN PRINCE 

A KOREAN ailNISTER 

A KOREAN COLONEL 

LI HUNG CHANG 

WALLS AND GATES OF PEKING 

STREET IN PEKING 

SOUTHERN ALTAR OF HEAVEN 



PAGE 

122 
123 
125 
127 
128 
129 
131 
132 
138 
139 
143 
144 
145 
147 
149 
153 
157 
160 
224 
231 
234 
246 



MAPS 



KOREA AND PEKING . 
JAPAN^ KOREA^ AND CHINA 



To face 216 
At the end 



CHAPTER I 

THE FAR EAST 

The }'outli who daily farther from the East 
Must travel, still is Nature's priest, 

And by the vision splendid 

Is on his way attended. 
AVoitDswoRTH : Ode on Intimations of Immortalitij. 

Asia has always appeared to me to possess a fascination 

which no country or erapire in Europe, still less any part 

of the Western Hemisphere, can claim. It is 

^ The en- 

believed by many to have been the cradle of chantment 

our race, and the birthplace of our language, just ° ^'^' 

as it certainly has been the hearthstone of our religion, and 

the fountainhead of the best of our ideas. Wide as is the 

chasm that now severs us, with its philosophy our thought 

is still interpenetrated. The Asian continent has supplied 

a scene for the principal events, and a stage for the most 

prominent figures, in history. Of Asian parentage is that 

force which, more than any other influence, has transformed 

and glorified mankind — viz. the belief in a single Deity, 

Five of the six greatest moral teachers that the world has 

seen — Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Mohainmed — 

were born of Asian parents, and lived upon Asian soil. 

Roughly speaking, their creeds may be said to have divided 

the conquest of the universe. The most famous or the 

wisest of kings — Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Timur, 

Baber, Akbar — have sat upon Asian thrones. Thither the 

A. 



2 THE FAR EAST 

greatest conqueror of the Old World turned aside for the 
sole theatre befitting so enormous an ambition. ' Cette vieille 
Europe viennuie ' expressed the half-formed kindred aspira- 
tion of the greatest conqueror of modern times. The three 
most populous existing empires — Great Britain^ Russia, and 
China — are Asian empires ; and it is because they are not 
merely European but Asian, that the two former are 
included in the category. From Asia also have sprung the 
most terrible phenomena by which humanity has ever been 
scourged — the Turki Nadir Shah, Sultan Mahmud of Ghuzni, 
the Mongol Jinghiz Khan. 

Yet for such crimes as these has Asia paid to us no 
mean compensation. For to her we owe the noblest 

product of all literature, in the Old Testament of 
Droducts ^^® Hebrew Scriptures ; the sweetest of lyrics, in 

the epithalamium of a Jewish king; the embryos of 
modern knowledge, in the empiricism of Arabian geometers 
and metaphysicians. In Asia the drama was born. There 
the greatest writer of antiquity chose a scene for his 
immortal epic. There, too, the mariner's compass first 
guided men over the pathless waters. In our own times 
alone it is with her aid that we have arrived at the evolution 
of three new sciences — comparative mythology, comparative 
jurisprudence, and philology. From Asia we have received 
the architecture of the Moslem — that most spiritual and 
refined of human conceptions — the porcelain of China, the 
faience of Persia, Rhodes, and Damascus, the infinitely 
ingenious art of Japan. On her soil were reared the most 
astonishing of all cities, Babylon ; the most princely of 
palaces, Persepolis ; the stateliest of temples, Angkor Wat ; 
the loveliest of tombs, the Taj Mahal, There too may be 
found the most wonderful of Nature's productions ; the 
loftiest mountains on the surface of the globe, the most 



THE FAR EAST 3 

renowned, if not also tlie lai'gest, of rivers, the most 

entrancing of landscapes. In the heart of Asia lies to this 

day the one mystery which the nineteenth century has still 

left for the twentieth to explore — viz. the Tibetan oracle of 

Lhasa. 

Of course, in displaying this panorama of Asian wonders 

or Asian charms, while claiming for her an individuality 

which her vast extent, her historic antiquity, 

and her geographical features go far to explain, I on^oge- 
f^ o L- » f i neousness. 

do not claim for her any absolute unity of product 
or form. On the contrary, the distinctions of race, irre- 
spective of climate, are perhaps more profound in Asia than 
in any other continent. There is, on the whole, less 
exterior resemblance between a Japanese and a Persian 
than there is between a Prussian and a Spaniard. A 
Dutchman is more like a Greek than a Turkoman is like a 
Malay. There is a wider gap between the finest Aryan 
type and the aboriginal barbarian in the recesses of Saghalin, 
Formosa, or Laos, than there is, for example, between the 
Egyptian and the Hottentot, or between the Frenchman 
and the Lap. Not less marked are the distinctions of 
language and habits, of caste and creed. The Western 
world in the Feudal Ages was less sundered and split up 
than is Hindustan at the pi'esent moment. And yet, after 
visiting almost every part of Asia, I seem, as soon as I taste 
her atmosphere or come within range of her influence, to 
observe a certain homogeneousness of expression, a certain 
similarity of character, certain common features of political 
and still more of social organisation, certain identical strains 
in the composition of man, that differentiate her structure 
from anything in Europe or even in America, and invest her 
with a distinction peculiarly her own. The sensation is 
sti'engthened by the impression left upon most minds since 



4 THE FAR EAST 

the days of childhood by the two best books that have ever 
been written upon the East — viz, the Old Testament and 
the Arabian Nights. If I strive still further to analyse it^ I 
find that in scenery, as I have elsewhere endeavoured to 
explain^i the dominant note of Asian individuality is contrast^ 
in character a general indifference to truth and respect for 
successful wile, in deportment dignity, in society the rigid 
maintenance of the family union, in government the mute 
acquiescence of the governed, in administration and justice 
the open corruption of administrators and judges, and in 
every-day life a statuesque and inexhaustible patience, which 
attaches no value to time, and wages unappeasable warfare 
against hurry. 

The impact between this solid anaalgam of character 
and habit, and the elastic and insinuating force which we 

^ denominate civilisation, is a phenomenon which 

Contact ^ 

with civi- now in many countries I have set myself to ex- 
amine, and which, I venture to think, sui'passes 
all others in human interest. In Asia the combat is between 
antagonists who are fairly matched. It resembles one of 
those ancient contests between the gladiator and the retiarius, 
the man with the rude blade and the man with the supple 
net, that filled with straining crowds the Imperial arena at 
Rome. For though craft and agility and superior science 
Avill, in the long run, generally get the better of crude force 
and the naked weapon, yet there are moments when, in 
the twinkling of an eye, the tables are turned, when the 
swordsman slashes the netman in twain, when the un- 
tutored Oriental makes short shrift with the subtleties and 
sophistries of the West. If Japan, for instance, illustrates 
the easy victory of the European, China so far registers an 
equal triumph for the Asiatic. In Africa and America, 
1 Vide Persia and the Persian Question, vol. i. jjp. 13-15. 



THE FAR EAST 5 

where no serious contest has been possible, because of the 

vast moral and intellectual disparity between the organisms 

engaged, but where civilisation advances like the incoming 

tide over the castles built by children with wooden spades 

in the sand, the spectacle is devoid of any such interest. 

The same train of reflection may lead us to avoid a 

common pitfall of writers upon the East — viz. the tendency 

to depreciate that which we do not ourselves 

sympathise with or understand, and which we f^"""^^ 
•^ ^ lessons. 

are therefore prone to mistake for a mark of 
inferiority or degradation. Mankind has built for its moral 
habitation different structures in diiferent lands and times. 
It has adopted many divergent styles of architecture, and 
has entertained widely opposite views upon material, or- 
nament, and design. Sometimes the fabric would seem to 
have been erected all aslant, or even to have been turned 
topsy-turvy in the course of construction. And yet, just as 
there are certain common laws observed in all building that 
has endured, so there are points of contact in all civilisations, 
common principles which lie at the root of every morality, ■ 
however contradictory its external manifestations. It is 
among the ancient races of Central Asia and in China that 
these reflections are chiefly borne home to the travellei-'s 
mind. When he meets with civilisation as old as, nay older 
than our own, when he encounters a history whose heroes 
have been among the great men of all time, religions whose 
prophets have altered the course of the world's progress, 
codes of morals which have endured for centuries and still 
hold millions within their adamantine grip, a learning which 
anticipated many of the proudest discoveries of. modern 
science, and a social organisation which has in places solved 
the very problem of reconciling individual liberty with 
collective foi'ce, whereupon the new-fledged democracies 



6 THE FAR EAST 

of the West are expending their virgin energies — he feels 
that it is absurd for him to censure, and impertinent in him 
to condemn. The East has not yet exhausted its lessons for 
us, and Europe may still sit at the feet of her elder sister. 

No introduction is needed in presenting the Far East to 
an English audience,^ since, on the whole, it is better known 

to them already than the Near East, or than the 
i p Central East, if these geographical distinctions 

may be permitted. Asia Minor, the Caucasus, 
Persia, Beluchistan, and Transcaspia, are each a terra incognita 
to the majority of our covuitrymen compared with the coasts 
of China and the cities of Japan. The situation of these, 
on or near to the ocean highways, and the advanced state 
of civilisation to which their inhabitants have attained and 
which has long attracted the notice of Europe, and the 
extent to which they have in recent years been made ac- 
cessible by steam-traffic by land and sea, have diverted 
thither the stream of travel, and have familiarised men 
with Tokio and Canton who have never been to Syracuse or 
Moscow. Comfort too plays a great part in the discrimina- 
tion of travel. Were there a railroad from the Caspian to 
Teheran, more people would visit the capital of the Shah. 
Were there an hotel at Baghdad, we might shortly hear of 
Cook's parties to the ruins of Babylon. Nevertheless there 
are portions of the Far East which the precise dearth of 
those communications of which I have been speaking has 
still left isolated and almost unknown. The number of 

1 It may have been forgotten by most readers, but it is nevertheless the 
fact, that the historical connection of England with the Far East was 
antecedent to her connection with India. The East India Trading Companj- 
had trading stations in the Malay Peninsula, in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, 
before they had opened a single factor3' in Hindustan, the sjjice trade being 
the bait that drew them so far afield. The British advance of the past 
century has therefore been merely a reappearance upon a scene where the 
English flag first flew nearly three hundred years ago. 



THE FAR EAST 7 

Englishmen who have travelled in the interior of Korea may 
be comited upon the fingers of the two hands. I know of 
none who have selected Annam as the scene of their explora- 
tions. Perhaps, therefore, in including them in my survey 
of the Far East, I may help to fill a gap, at the same time 
that I subserve the symmetry of my own plan. 

There are certain main distinctions which separate this 
region from those parts of the Asian continent that border 
upon the Mediterranean and the Arabian Sea. 
Much of it, comprising the whole of the Indo- ^ ^ ^°'. 
Chinese peninsula, lies south of the Tropic of 
Cancer, and accordingly presents us with a climate, peoples, 
and a vegetation, upon which the sun has looked, and which 
possess characteristics of their own. Greater heat has pro- 
duced less capacity of resistance ; and just as in India all 
the masculine races have their habitat above the 24th degree 
of latitude, so in the B^ar East is there the greatest contrast 
between the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan, lying 
north of that parallel, and those of Burma, Siam, Malaysia, 
and Annam, which lie below it. The one class has retained 
its virility and its freedom, the second has already undergone 
or is in course of undergoing absorption. Throughout the 
Far East there is abundance of water, and the scorched 
and sullen deserts that lay their leprous touch upon 
Persia, Central Asia, and Mongolia, are nowhere reproduced. 
In the Near East, i.e. west of the Indus and the Oxus, 
there are absolutely only two rivers of any importance, the 
Tigris and the Euphrates ; and the main reason of the back- 
wai'dness of those countries is the dearth both of moisture 
and of means of communication Avhich the absence of rivers 
entails. A further striking difference, of incalculable im- 
portance in its effect upon national development, is that of 
religion. Western Asia is in the unyielding and pitiless 



8 THE FAR EAST 

clutch of Islam, which opposes a Cyclopean wall of resistance 
to innovation or reform. In Eastern Asia we encomiter only 
the mild faith of the Indian prince, more or less overlaid 
with superstition and idolatry, or sapped by scepticism and 
decay; and the strange conglomerate of ethics and de- 
monolatry which stands for religion in China and its once 
dependent states. Neither of these agencies is overtly 
hostile to Western influence, though both, when aroused, 
are capable of putting forth a tacit weight of antagonism 
that must be felt to be appreciated. Finally, whereas in 
the Near East population is sparse and inadequate, in the 
Far East it is crowded upon the soil, cultivating the well- 
soaked lands with close diligence or massed behind city-walls 
in seething aggregations of humanity. These conditions 
augment the complexity of the problem which their political 
future involves. 

Midway between the two flanks of the continent whose 
rival differences I have sketched lies India, sharing the 
features, both good and evil, of both. She has wide, water- 
less, and untilled plains ; but she also has throbbing hives 
of human labour and life. Her surface is marked both by 

mighty rivers and by Saharas of sand. Among 
nc la le j^^^^. pg^p^gg jj^^.g Mohammedans of both schools, 

mixed up with diverse and pagan creeds. Of her 
races some have always subsisted by the sword alone ; to 
others the ploughshare is the only known implement of iron. 
She combines the rigours of eternal snow with the luxuriant 
flame of the tropics. Within her borders may be studied 
every one of the problems with which the rest of Asia 
challenges our concern. But her central and commanding- 
position is nowhere better seen than in the political influence 
which she exercises over the destinies of her neighbours 
near and far, and the extent to which their fortunes revolve 



THE FAR EAST 9 

upon an Indian axis. The independence of Afghanistan, 
the continued national existence of Persia, the maintenance 
of Turkish rule at Baghdad, are one and all dependent upon 
Calcutta. Nay, the radiating circle of her influence overlaps 
the adjoining continents, and affects alike the fate of the 
Bosphorus and the destinies of Egypt. Nor is the effect 
less remarkable if examined upon the eastern side, to which 
in this book I am about to invite attention. It is from 
jealousy of India and to impair the position which India 
gives to Great Britain in the Far East that France has again 
embarked upon an Asiatic career, and is advancing from the 
south-east with steps that faithfully correspond with those 
of Russia upon the north-west. The heritage of the Indian 
Empire has within the last ten years made us the land- 
neighbours of China, and has multiplied threefold the area 
of our diplomacy at Peking. Even the fortunes of I'emote 
Korea are in a manner bound up with the politics of 
Hindustan, seeing that it is by the same foe that, in the 
last resort, both are threatened, and that the tactics which 
aim at the appropriation of the smaller unit have as their 
ulterior objective the detriment of the greater. Such and 
so supreme is the position enjoyed in the Asian continent 
by the Empire of the Kaiser-i-Hind. Towards her, or into 
her orbit, a centripetal force, which none appears able to 
resist, draws every wandering star. Just as it may be said 
that the Eastern Question in Europe turns upon the dis- 
memberment of Turkey, so the Eastern Question in Asia 
turns upon the continued solidarity of Hindustan. In what 
relation to that problem stand the countries and peoples of 
the Far East, what is their present political condition, and 
in what way they are engaged in constructing the history, 
or reconstructing the maps of the future, it is my object in 
these pages to determine. 



JAPAN 

' Much have I travelled in the realms of gold, 
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen, 
Round many Eastern islands have I been.' 

J, Keats. 



CHAPTER II 

THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 

Me vestigia terrent, 
Omnia te adversiim spectantia, nulla retrorsum. 

Horace, Eji. I. i. 7-1-5. 

During the five years that elapsed between my first and 
second visits to Japan^ in 1887 and in 1892, I found that 
many things had changed. The Europeanisation 
of the country proceeds apace, though pei'haps Japanese 
with a slightly less headlong rapidity than before. 
In 1887 short lines of railway ran only in the neighbourhood 
of the two capitals, Tokio and Kioto, and of the Treaty 
Ports, Kobe and Yokohama. Now it is possible to travel 
by rail within a single day from Tokio to Kioto, and also 
from Tokio to Aomori on the northern coast; 1980 miles 
of the iron road are recorded as already open to traffic ; and 
a great programme of railway construction, according to 
which a sum of £8,500,000 is to be spent upon further 
extensions during the next twelve years, has received the 
sanction of the Diet. In a few years' time those to whom 
the discomforts of a marine voyage are inadequately com- 
pensated by the fairy landscapes of the Inland Sea, will be 
able to travel overland, without leaving their compartment, 
from Kioto to Shimonoseki ; while there is a talk of bridging 
the Straits that bear the latter name with a fabric that shall 
excel in monstrosity even the Forth Bridge. From Tokio to 

13 



14 JAPAN 

Nagasaki it will then be as commonplace an incident to travel 
by rail as it is from London to Wick ; and the. jinriksha will re- 
lapse into the dusty limbo of the postillion and the stage-coach. 
Where the ' ii'on horse ' has rushed in, it may be certain 
that minor forms of Western invention will not fear to 
tread. In Tokio tramways clatter along the 
Y'^^l';^^'^^ streets; gas flames in some of the principal 
highways ; and the electric light is uniformly 
employed in the public buildings^ in many of the residences 
of ministers and nobles, in the tea-houses which figure so 
largely in the holiday life of the Japanese gentleman, and 
in quite a number of stores and even small shops. Telephones 
and telegraphs stretch a web of wires overhead. The long 
picturesque lines of yashikis or fortified city residences of 
the feudal lords and their sworded retainers, that covered 
so great an area within the moats, have almost all dis- 
appeared, and have been replaced by public offices of 
showy European architecture and imposing dimensions. An 
immense pile of scaffolding, surrounding a space much larger 
than the Law Courts on the Strand in London, conceals 
what will presently be known as the new Ministry and 
Courts of Justice, where will be dispensed a jurisprudence 
that has been borrowed, with a truly Japaijese eclecticism, 
from the codes of half the nations of Europe. The perpetual 
bugle-note, and the sight of neat figures in white cdtton 
uniforms and black boots, are indicative of a national army, 
whose mobilised strength in time of peace is 56,000, and 
whose discipline, physique, and weapons are the admiration 
of European critics. Out in Tokio Bay the smart white 
hulls of gunboats, lying at anchor, represent a navy whose 
creation has forcibly stirred the national ardoui', and which 
is destined in the future to be no mean factor in the politics 
of the Pacific. Finally, after a twenty years' travail, Japan 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 15 

has given birth to a Parliamentary Constitution ; and an 
unpi'etentious but roomy temporary structure, built of wood, 
like its predecessor which was burnt down in 1891, and 
with no trace of native art or architecture about it, accom- 
modates the nominees of royalty or the representatives of 
the people, who, in the two Chambers, created by the 
Constitution of February 1889, and respectively entitled the 
House of Peers and the House of Representatives', constitute 
the Imperial Diet of Japan, and are swiftly introducing her 
people to the amenities of Parliamentary existence — obstruc- 
tion within the Chamber, platform oratory out of doors — to 
the phenomena of Radical and Progressive parties, and to the 
time-honoured jmlcestra of begging and refusing supplies.^ 

In the five years of its existence, since its first meeting 
in November 1890, the Japanese Diet has passed through 

eiffht sessions and four General Elections. 

*= The Diet. 

The two Houses meet in Chambei'S identical 

in size and design, almost the only difference being the 

presence of the Imperial throne behind the President's 

1 The Japanese Diet ajjproximates more closely to the Prussian than to 
any other European or foreign model. The House of Peers is partly 
hereditary, partly nominated, and partly elected. Under the first heading 
come the Imjjerial Princes and the higher nobility sitting in their own right ; 
the second category is composed of persons nominated by the Emperor for 
meritorious services to the State, or for erudition. The members of both 
these classes sit for life. Under the third heading are included the bulk 
of the peerage, sitting only for a term of seven years, and consisting of a 
number of counts, viscounts, and barons, elected by their own orders, and 
of representatives of the various provinces, returned, subject to the approlja- 
tion of the Emperor, by small electoral bodies composed only of the highest 
taxpayers. The House of Peers, thus constituted, contains at the f)resent 
time 270 members. The Lower House, which contains 300 members, and 
sits for four years, being bound to assemble at least once every year for a 
session of three months, is wholly elective, and is composed of the repre- 
sentatives of the principal prefectures and towns, returned in the proportion 
of one to every 128,000 of the people, uijon a taxpaying, residential, and 
age franchise, the qualification for electors being the possession of land of 
the taxable value of $600, or of an annual income of $1000, a twelve months' 
residence, and the minimum age of twenty -five. 



16 JAPAN 

chair in the House of Peers. Their ground-plan has 
been borrowed from that of the bulk of foreign Legislative 
Chambers, the seats and desks of the members being ranged 
in the arc of a circle fronting a raised platform, upon 
which are the presidential chair, the speaker's tribune, 
the desk of the official reporters, and — a speciality of the 
Japanese Diet — on either side of this centre a row of seats 
occupied by the Ministers or delegated officials of the 
various departments, who are in the Chamber, yet not of it, 
and who sit there not compulsorily, but of their own option, 
and without votes, to defend their departments, to make 
speeches, or answer questions.^ The Japanese appear to 
have acquired with characteristic facility the external 
features of Parliamentary conduct. They make excellent 
speeches, frequently of great length, and marked by graces 
of style as well as by quickness of reasoning. On the whole, 
considering how immature is the Lower House, and how in- 
evitably, as I shall presently explain, it is by its constitution 
afflicted with the vices of an irresponsible Opposition, it 
succeeded till lately in conducting its operations with a 

1 The merely optional attendance of ministers in the Lower House has 
excited an already perceptible irritation among the champions of Parlia- 
mentary omnipotence and ministerial responsibilitj'. For instance, the 
published Report of the Proceedings during the session of 1892-93 contained 
the following interesting passages. A motion was made by a private 
member, and was carried, that the President be asked to inquire when the 
Cabinet Ministers could be in their places. Subsequently, the Government 
replied, with some curtness, that ministers having the power to attend 
whenever they pleased, there was no necessity for members to put tliem- 
selves to the trouble of asking them. On a later occasion a member said he 
believed that some of the ministers were in an anteroom, and requested that 
a secretary might be sent to see, as in that case he desired to make an 
urgency motion. Finally the urgency motion, so moved, was carried, on 
the ground that the Cabinet had ignored its responsibility to the Emperoi', 
the country, and the Diet. The main reason, other than constitutional law 
and j)ractice, for the absence of ministers, is that the House of Peers meets 
between 10 and 11 a.m., and the House of Representatives at 1.1.5 p.m., i,e. 
at hours when the ministers are at work in their offices. 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 17 

creditable decorum. Very full and accurate reports of the 
speeches are published by a Government staff of reporters, 
whose stenographic attainments are on a par with the most 
highly-trained experts of Europe or Anmerica ; and a con- 
densed version of the debates in English appears in the 
columns of the Japan Daily Mail from the able pen of its 
well-known editor, Captain Brinkley. 

The new Parliamentary regime has developed a prodigious 
mushroom growth of native journals, few enjoying at all an 
extensive circulation, but each attached to the 
creed of some party or section, or inspired by some "■ }^ 
leader. In this way is being manufactured, with 
almost bewildering haste, a body of public opinion whose 
movements it is impossible to forecast, and with which 
Japanese statesmen already find it difficult to grapple. In 
the country we read of political clubs, of large meetings 
held in theatres and public places, of eloquent speeches, of 
cheering audiences, of the virtues and the wickedness of 
public men ; and we realise that in Japan, as elsewhere. 
Demos, having found belated articulation, is repeating, for 
the comfort of the scientific historian, the familiar and 
venerable accents. 

There are other evidences that Japan is in the bondage 

of a universal law. Though the level of political intelligence 

in the Chamber is reasonably high, it does not 

Parlia- 
appear that that of character or prestige is equally mentary 

so. The attraction of a salary (for each member sy^^P'^orns. 

of both Houses ^ receives a compulsory yearly allowance of 

$800, equivalent at the present rate of exchange to less 

than £100 a year — no inconsiderable income in Japan) is 

1 Except the ex officio and hereditary Peers, i.e. the Princes and Marquises. 
The Imperial Princes are in receipt of iDersonal grants from the EJmperor ; 
but tlie remaining Princes and Marquises have no salaries, and are in some 
cases i^oor. 



18 JAPAN 

not believed to add much to the popularity of a political 
career, since it is estimated that, though a member receives 
$800 annually, he has to spend $2000 at least, and since, 
also, the strongest discredit attaches, theoretically, to any 
suspicion of pecuniary motives. But the system of educa- 
tion organised after the fall of Feudalism — a systein based 
on the aspiration of bridging, with all possible rapidity, the 
gulf that centuries of isolation had produced in Japanese 
knowledge — proved disproportionate to the practical needs 
of the nation, and called into existence a set of youths who 
regarded official and political life as the only sphere befitting 
their superior attainments. From the ranks of this class 
there has gradually been formed a numerous body of pro- 
fessional politicians, who find in platform and Parliamentary 
publicity a compensation for the closed doors of rank or 
office. These individuals are in a position of perpetual 
freedom and no responsibility ; they can enjoy the luxury 
of attacking and paralysing every Government in turn ; and, 
whilst by their votes they can neither form nor oust a 
Ministry, they can fetter its limbs with any number of 
Lilliputian cords. The predominance of this class at first 
deterred many of the older and more influential men from 
offering themselves for election ; but there are signs that 
their reluctance is yielding to the necessities of the situation. 
It may be said, indeed, that the Parliamentary experiment 
is being watched by the more stable elements of the 
community from a suspicious though narrowing distance, 
and that a sense of national obligation to the highest duties 
of citizenship has not yet been at all widely aroused. 

At the same time, charges of Government nepotism and 
Rocks electoral tyranny are freely bandied about. It is 
ahead. alleged that the Imperial nominations to Life- 
peerages, which are reserved by the Constitution for the 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 19 

reward of distinguished public service or erudition, are 
distributed among Ministerial adherents. At the General 
Election early in 1892 official interference appears to have 
been openly and flagrantly exercised. At least, such vi^as 
the declared opinion of both houses of the Diet ; for, 
whilst the Lower House only failed to pass by three votes 
a motion for a memorial to the Throne, declaring that in 
the elections administrative officials had wantonly perverted 
the authority of their office by tempting and inveigling 
voters or by resorting to force for their compulsion — and 
seeking to fix the responsibility upon the Government — a 
motion which, if carried, would have amounted to a direct 
direct vote of censure — both Houses passed by large 
majorities a representation to the Government urging them 
to punish the implicated officials ; and the new Cabinet so 
far accepted the instruction as to dismiss five of these 
offenders from their posts. The General Elections of 1 892 
and I894 were also distinguished by a good deal of rioting, 
and by a notable percentage of broken heads. We may 
detect similar reproductions, as yet in miniature, of Western 
forms, in the commencement of an agitation for the reduction 
of the franchise, which is now based upon a high assessment 
to direct taxation ; while the minimum age limit of members 
of Parliament — viz. thirty years — implies a mistrust of pre- 
cocious genius which is naturally distasteful to the self- 
conceit of young Japan. 

None of these ' Rocks ahead,' however, can be compared 
for seriousness with the main question of the relations of 

the Chamber with the Government, which re- 

The Min- 
produce in a different but not less acute form isters and 

the controversial impasse that is from time to P^^^"^^'"^'^^- 

time presented in England, not between the House of 

Commons and the Ministry, but between a Radical majority 



20 JAPAN 

in the House of Commons and a Conservative majority in 
the House of Loi-ds. Japan, though governed by party 
men, is not blessed or cursed with party government. The 
Ministers in Japan, hke the President's Cabinet in America, 
are the nominees and servants of the Emperor. They are 
not responsible to the Diet, and can remain in office as long 
as the Sovereign honours them with his confidence. But 
whereas in America a majority hostile to the Executive in 
both Houses is a phenomenon extremely rare in occurrence, 
and certain to be terminated in a short period of time, in 
Japan there is no a j^rioii reason why such a situation should 
not exist in the first place, or be indefinitely prolonged. 
The theory of the Japanese Constitution, therefore, being 
the rule of a Government legislating through two Chambers, 
but not responsible to either, and treating their representa- 
tions with comparative indifference, it may readily be 
understood that the popular Chamber at any rate, which 
rests solely upon election, though on a narrow franchise, 
becomes an almost automatic machine of opposition. There 
is a more or less rough subdivision of parties, with supposed 
supporters or adversaries of the Government. But these do 
not in either or any case sit in groups ; nor can their votes 
be relied upon with any certainty^ the ' Below the gangway ' 
attitude being as popular in Tokio as it is in Northampton. 
The largest combination in the House of 1892 only numbered 
QQ out of a total of 300 ; and the two main sections of 
the Radical party are irreconcilably opposed. So far the 
Japanese House of Representatives has rendered itself as 
disagreeable to successive Governments as it could, obstruct- 
ing their measures, defeating their budgets, and generally 
betraying an attitude that might have been studied in Irish 
academies. Nor can I imagine a more fruitful occupation 
for the student, be he partial or prejudiced, of representative 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 



21 



institutions, than a perusal of the proceedings of the Lower 
House of the Japanese Diet during its last six sessions. 
There will be much to interest and inform him ; some 
things to reassure ; but not a little to dispirit and dismay. 

At the time of my visit in September 1892, a new 
Ministry had recently assumed the seals of office, and as I 




MAItQUIS ITO 

revise these pages (1895) is still in power. Count Ito, the 
Minister President, or Prime Minister, is probably the best- 
known Japanese statesman outside his own country: ^, ,^. . 

^ •' ' The Minis- 

the adventurous exploit of his early career, when, try of All 

with his life-long friend and colleague Count 

Inouye, he was smuggled in disguise on board an English 



22 JAPAN 

vessel for conveyance to England, there to study the 
manners and institutions of the West, being as familiar to 
most foreigners as is the part which he subsequently played 
in the Restoration, and as a pioneer in the evolution of 
Modern Japan. In his own country his experience, his 
tact, and his individual responsibility for the new Parlia- 
mentary Constitution,! render him the most respected and 
influential of Japanese public men. Already once Prime 
Minister and President of the Privy Council, and the first 
President of the House of Peers, he now returned after an 
interval in which he had seen other Ministers come and go 
in the preliminary flux consequent upon a new order of 
things, in order to mould into durable shape the offspring 
of his own political creation, and to endeavour to give 
something like stability to the administration of his country. 
With him were associated in the Cabinet his old friend 
Count Inouye, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, and, 
perhaps, the most daring and original of Japanese states- 
men ; 2 Count Yamagata, himself a former Premier, to whom 
was entrusted the portfolio of Justice;'^ and Viscount Mutsu, 
a travelled and highly-accomplished statesman, who had 
represented his country at Washington before being trans- 
ferred to the Foreign Office.* The only public man of the 

1 Count Ito has himself published a learned commentary on the Japanese 
Constitution, which has been translated into English and is published in 
Tokio. Since the war he has been made a Marquis. 

2 After the preliminary successes of Japan in the recent war, Count 
Inouye was sent in the autumn of 1894 to Korea to organise the new 
Government, and to superintend the introduction of the so-called reforms. 
The experience of a year's dictatorshij) has left him a wiser, and probably a 
sadder, man. But he is still engaged uj)on the hopeless task. 

3 Count Yamagata, with the rank of Field-Marshal was invested with 
supreme command of the Japanese forces in Korea after the victory of 
Ping-yang in September 1894, and subsequently led the army corps that 
invaded Manchuria. He was afterwards made a Marquis. 

■* In earlier life Viscount Mutsu was implicated in the Satsuma Rebellion, and 
was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, before being pardoned and released. 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 23 

very first rank who was outside the new ministry was Count 
Okuma, the author of the famous attempt at Treaty Revision 
that cuhninated in an attempt upon his Hfe, and who, for no 
very well ascertained reason other than that he is the acknow- 
ledged leader of the Progressionist party in the House of 
Representatives, was supposed to be more or less in opposi- 
tion. The new Government might almost claim to be a 
Ministry of All the Talents ; and, undoubtedly, the summons 
of Count Ito by the Emperor upon the fall of the Matsukata 
Cabinet in the summer of 1892, and the composition of his 
Administration, had excited the liveliest satisfaction in 
political circles in Japan. A few caustic censures on Clan 
government scarcely broke the general consensus, on the 
one hand, of congratulation that the true leaders had at 
length consented to lead, on the other hand of judgment 
held in suspense until they had shown of what stuff they 
were made. I enjoyed the pleasure on several occasions 
of meeting and conversing on the political situation with 
Counts Ito and Inouye, and with Viscount Mutsu ; and a 
foreigner may perhaps be allowed without impertinence to 
compliment the country that can produce such public men. 

The question of the hour was the attitude to be adopted by 
the Government towards Parliament when it should meet that 
body in November. In the Session of 1891-92, 
the Budget had been so systematically opposed ^^^^^^ ^ 
that it was never passed at all, and recourse had 
to be made to an article in the Constitution, admitting in 
such a case (with wise foresight of the idiosyncrasies of 
Japanese character) of the readoption of the estimates of 
the previous year.^ The repetition of such a rebuff could 

^ It is amusing, in the light of what has actually happened, to read 
Count Ito's sanguine commentary upon this article of the Constitution (No. 
Lxxi. ) ; ' When the Diet has not voted on the Budget, or the Budget has 
not been brought into actual existence, the result will he, in extreme cases, 



24 JAPAN 

not lightly be endured by the strongest Government that 
modern Japan could produce ; and public opinion exhausted 
itself in surmise as to the probable bearing of Count I to and 
his colleagues towards this obstreperous nursling. How was 
it to be controlled — by a policy of cuifs, or by a programme 
of caresses ? Should the Ministry rule in despite of the 
Chamber, or should it make terms with the latter, and treat 
it with that assumption of deference that is so grateful to 
injured pride ? The answer that was returned to these 
questions by the experiences of the two Sessions of 1 892-93 
and 1893 sheds so luminous a ray both upon the internal 
polity of modern Japan, and upon the dangers by which it is 
threatened, that I make no apology for referring to them. 

The actual facts were as follows. The Government met 
Parliament with a pi'ogramme whose two chief items were 

a scheme for the reassessment of the Land- 
c^!,^°f tax — a time-honoured grievance in Japan ever 

since the Restoration ^ — which scheme would 
involve a reduction of $3,750,000 in the revenue so 
raised ; and a plan for the increase of the Navy by 

the destruction of the national existence ; and, in ordinary ones, the 
paralysis of the machinery of the Administration. BiU such a state of 
affairs being possible only in countries ivhere democratic principles are taken 
as the basis of their political institutions, it is incompatible with a polity 
like ours.' 

1 After the Revolution in 1868, the Japanese farmers, who were in theory 
though not in practice tenants-at-will, received certificates of ownership, 
with freedom of transfer and sale. Henceforward they jaaid tlieir rent as a 
direct tax to the Government, which had resumed possession of the national 
property. Since the days of the Shogunate the tax has been redviced by 
one-half, while the ijrojjortion which it bears to the entire reveiiue has 
largely diminished, owing to the increase of receipts from other sources of 
taxation. Nevertheless the one great domestic question in Japan is the 
reform of the land-tax, jiromised by every Government and introduced in 
every Session. The assessment is said to be both obsolete and unequal ; the 
State as rent-collector is not prone to mercy ; and the tax being paid, not, as 
formerly, in kind, but in cash, is seriously affected by the fluctuations in the 
price of grain. 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 25 

the expenditure of $16,000,000, to be spread over seven 
years, the appropriation required for these two purposes 
being raised by an increase of the tobacco-tax, the sake-tax, 
and the income-tax. From the very first the House showed 
its temper in the most uncompromising fashion. The two 
sections of the Opposition, the Kaishinto or Progressionists, 
under Count Okuma, and the Jiyuto or extreme Radicals, 
under Count Itagaki, gleefully joined hands in order to 
embarrass the Government. The new taxes were refused ; 
a private bill for the immediate reduction of the land-tax, 
independently of reassessment, was carried by the Lower 
House; even the Upper Chamber passed a representation 
in favour of the reduction of all official salaries (with the 
exception of those in the military, naval, diplomatic, and 
consular departments) from 12 per cent, to 7 per cent, of 
the total revenue, and of the dismissal of superfluous officials ; 
and when the Budget was finally introduced in the House 
of Representatives its items were ruthlessly cut down, 
wholesale reductions were made in official salaries, and the 
appropriations for the new shipbuilding programme were 
absolutely refused. Three times did the inexorable Opposi- 
tion send back the amended Budget to the Government ; 
three times the Government refused to accept it. Then 
came the crisis. The leader of the Opposition moved the 
adoption of a representation to the Throne, which was 
tantamount to a vote of want of confidence in the Ministry. 
But no sooner had he opened his speech than the President 
had placed in his hands an Imperial Rescript, ordering 
(under the terms of an article in the Constitution) a special 
adjournment of the Diet for fifteen days. An attempt at 
compromise in the interval resulted in failure; and when 
the House met again, the same resolution was moved, and in 
spite of a temperate and conciliatory speech from the Prime 



26 JAPAN 

Minister was carried by a majority of 181 to 103. Three 
days later an Imperial message was read out in both 
Chambers, in which the Emperor pointed out, in language 
of reproachful solemnity, that the spectacle of discord pre- 
sented by the Parliamentary conflict was one by which the 
spirits of his Ancestors were likely to be much disturbed ; ^ 
and that to end the crisis and recall the nation to its duties 
in the matter of the national defences, where ' a single day's 
neglect might involve a century's regret/ he proposed to 
surrender, during the space of six years, one-tenth of his 
Civil List, or the sum of $300,000 annually ; at the same 
time directing all military and civil officials to contribute a 
similar proportion for the same period.- To this Rescript a 
loyal reply was voted ; and a Committee of the Lower House 
was appointed to confer with the Government. The latter 
practically gave way on the main points, pledging them- 
selves to sweeping administrative reforms, and to a large 
reduction both of officials and of official salaries, as well as 
to special reforms in the Naval Department. The Budget 
was then passed, and the crisis was temporarily at an 
end. From the conflict the Government had only emerged 

1 The belief in an immemorial antiquity of the Imperial Throne, and an 
immense and cerernoniovis respect for the Imperial Ancestors, supply an 
archaic framework in which the brand-new Japanese Constitution sometimes 
looks strangely out of place. The Preamble of the latter begins with the 
words : ' Having, by virtue of the glories of Our Ancestors, ascended the 
throne of a lineal succession unbroken for ages eternal.' Article i. repeats 
the same consolatory fiction, while projecting it into an endless future : ' The 
Emijire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors 
unbroken for ages eternal.' In the Imperial oath, taken at the promulgation 
of the new Constitution, the Emperor said : ' That we have been so fortunate 
in our reign, in keeping with the tendency of the times, as to accomplish this 
work, we owe to the glorious spirits of the Imperial Founder of our House, 
and of our other Imperial Ancestors.' 

- According to Article x. of the Constitution, 'The Emperor determines 
the organisation of the different branches of the Administration, and the 
salaries of all civil and military officials, and appoints and dismisses the 
same.' 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 27 

by the personal intervention of the Emperor, and by a 
capitulation on many important points to their adversaries. 
In the compromise the latter were the real victors. 

In the ensuing Session, which opened in November 1893^ 
the crisis arrived with even greater rapidity, and demanded 
a more drastic solution. No sooner had the Diet assembled 
than the Lower House proceeded to pass, by a large ma- 
jority, a vote of want of confidence in its Speaker 
or President, on the scarcely concealed ground j| 
that, though originally appointed by the Radicals 
as a Radical partisan, he had falsified expectations by showing 
an unbecoming inclination to favour the Government. The 
President, who had been elected for four years, declined to 
resign; and the House accordingly voted an address to the 
Throne on the subject and adjourned. In the end this 
particular quarrel, the importation of the Emperor into 
which was a symptom of the advanced state of Parliamentary 
disoi-ganisation, terminated in the expulsion of the recalcitrant 
official by the appointment of a successor in his place. Mean- 
while the House of Representatives, having, so to speak, 
tasted blood, proceeded to gratify an even more dangerous 
appetite. Unable to wreak that personal vengeance upon 
the Government which a majority of its members desired, 
they addressed the Throne on two subjects — (1) on Official 
Discipline and the Status of Ministers, practically demanding 
the dismissal of the Cabinet ; and (2) on the strict enforce- 
ment of the Foreign Treaties — a part of the petty and 
vexatious policy recently instituted by the Opposition in 
order to embarrass the Government and to force Treaty 
Revision upon their own terms. After this step the 
sittings of the House were again suspended ; and Count 
Ito, in presenting the address to the Throne, requested, 
as a matter of form, to be relieved of the discharge of 



28 JAPAN 

duties which a inajority of the Chamber were bent upon 

rendering impossible. 

A few days later the Emperor replied, in a statesmanlike 

Rescript, declining to dismiss his Ministers, a prerogative 

which, he remarked, appertained, not to the Diet, but 

to the Crown ; and refusing to depart from the policy 

hitherto pursued towards foreigners, which had been liberal 

and progressive. Anything tending to interrupt 
The crisis. 

the consummation of that policy would be contrary 

to the Imperial wishes. Retrograde and vexatious pro- 
posals such as those suggested would alienate Foreign 
Powers, and were incompatible with the spirit of civilisation. 
Upon the reassembling of the House, these views were 
enforced in a singularly temperate and dignified speech by 
the Foreign Minister, Viscount Mutsu; which however did 
not prevent the occurrence of violent scenes, and the use of 
opprobrious and disgraceful language. The Diet was forth- 
with prorogued for a fortnight ; but it was obvious that 
a repetition of adjournments was a palliative that had 
already lost its efficacy ; and, on the last day but one of 
the year appeared an Imperial Decree dissolving the Diet. 
Like many European forerunners, the Japanese Govern- 
ment had realised that the only purgative for a factious 
and discredited Parliament is an appeal to the people. 
Simultaneously they asserted and strengthened the authority 
of the Executive by dissolving the Great Japan Society 
— an anti-foreign Association that had been formed for the 
purpose of agitating against the Revision of the Treaties 
except upon terms inequitable to the foreigner — and pro- 
hibited political societies. 

The progress of the General Election, which lasted for 
two months, was attended with scenes of violence and even 
bloodshed, in which the sosM or professional rowdies, who 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 29 

are ready, for a consideration, to let out their services to 

either party in Japan, played a prominent part. On 

March 1 the elections took place, the result being ^ 

■^ General 
that the Government failed to better their con- Elections 

dition, the aggregate of the various Opposition " 

parties being sufficient to render them impotent in the 
Diet, and to secure for Japan a continuance of those con- 
stitutional struggles which, at a moment vs^hen all parties 
should combine to lay firm the bases of the new polity, 
threaten to jeopardise its very existence, and to convince 
the world that the Japanese are at present in too feather- 
headed and wayward a mood to be able to work out even 
their own salvation. When the new session opened in May 
the Ministry was vehemently assailed, its bills were rejected, 
and a vote of want of confidence in the Government was 
within five votes of being carried. Realising that with 
such a Chamber legislation, or even government, was im- 
possible, Count Ito again advised the Emperor to dissolve 
the Diet. And thus, for the second time within a single 
year, Japan was plunged in the throes of a General Election. 
The outbreak of war in the summer of 1 894, and the sense of 
national patriotism which it aroused in no ordinary degree, had 
the effect for a time of stifling these dissensions ; and at the 
General Election the Government strengthened its position, 
though still remaining in a position of numerical inferiority to 
the opposing groups. Now that the war is over, the con- 
stitutional volcano may be expected again to become active. 

These events are interesting, and I have narrated them, 
less as incidents in a Parliamentary drama than because of 
the explanation that lies behind. They are 

symptoms of the threefold problem bv which ^. P°^"*^s 
•' ^ ^ •' at issue. 

Japanese statesmen and the Japanese nation are 

now confronted, and which will not, in all likelihood, be 



30 JAPAN 

solved without a great strain^ if not actual jeopardy to the 
Constitution itself. The principles involved, or the questions 
at issue, are these : the ancestral conflict between democratic 
and oligarchical ideas in government ; the part to be played 
in a so-called Constitutional regime by the Sovereign ; and 
the relation of ministerial responsibility to a Parliamentary 
system. They are problems about which European States 
have been fighting (and in some cases are still fighting) for 
hundreds of years; and now that our own analogous con- 
flicts are for the most part over, we may contemplate, with 
the sententious satisfaction of maturity, the almost identical 
struggles of impetuous youth. 

In refusing the appropriations asked for the shipbuilding 
programme in 1893, the Opposition speakers were careful to 
explain that it was from no stint of patriotism or 
govern- disbelief in the need of a powerful navy that they 
"^^" ■ took that step. The administration of the Naval 
Department they held to be corrupt and bad, but, as one 
speaker said, ' the head and front of all the reforms needed 
was to free the navy from the dominant influence of the 
Satsuma clan.' On another occasion another speaker 
remarked : ' A man could not become head of the Home 
Office, or of the Railway Bureau, unless he were of Choshiu 
origin, or head of the War Department, or the Navy, unless 
he were of the Satsuma clan.' These observations introduce 
us to a curious feature in the Japanese system, rarely 
noticed by European writers, but nevertheless exercising a 
predominant and conservative force in the midst of a welter 
of change, viz. the continued dominion of the old Clan 
system, which has prevailed in Japan ever since, just as 
it had done for centuries before, the Revolution. leyasu, 
the founder of the last or Tokugawa family of Shoguns in 
l603, was practically the head of a northern confederacy, 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 31 

which defeated and held in subordination the clans of the 
south and south-west. Two and a half centuries later the 
decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate gave to these the 
chance of a long-postponed revenge. Raising the cry of the 
restoration of the legitimate Sovereign and the expulsion of 
foreigners, they rallied around themselves all the disaffected 
and patriotic elements in the country^ and carried their 
purpose. Satsuma, Choshiu, Tosa^ and Hizen were the four 
principal clans concerned in this successful revolution, which 
re-established the ascendency of the South over the North. 
In their hands the new government, though outwai-dly 
based on European ideas, was in reality administered on the 
old Japanese system, namely, by a territorial clique. The 
Satsuma rebellion showed that one great section of the 
victorious clan cared only for the old system, and not at all 
for the new principles. It was defeated, and the Progressive 
policy prevailed. Nevertheless^ under a Western exterior 
the victors have always clung tightly to the traditional 
methods, and have retained an almost unchallenged supre- 
macy, alike in the formation of Cabinets and the distribution 
of patronage. In the old days, no doubt^ this was due to 
the importance of powerful princes or nobles backed by 
formidable aggregations of armed men. It is now the 
triumph, not of tex'ritorial influence, but of a civil and 
military hierarchy, largely organised upon the privilege of 
birth. The army, and still more the navy, which in the 
background play a very important part in the politics of 
modern Japan, and which are the real mainstay of the 
Government against the subversive tendencies of Parlia- 
mentary majorities or demagogic Radicalism, are principally 
officered by men belonging to the chief clans ; the present 
Cabinet is mainly recruited from the same sources ; and the 
cry of the Opposition is to a large extent well founded, 



32 ' JAPAN 

that to be a clansman is to possess the key to the doors of 

official promotion. 

In reality the conflict is only a Japanese version of the 

familiar duel between a powerful and disciplined oligarchy 

and an ambitious but as yet imperfectly organised democracy. 

It is essentially the same historical phenomenon that was 

presented by the contest of the Gracchi with 
Oligarchy 
V. Demo- the Senate in the expiring century of the Roman 

cracy. Republic ; and that was reproduced in our own 

country in the popular struggle against what is commonly 
called Whig ascendency in the first quarter of the present 
century. The Cabinet of Count Ito is in English political 
terminology a Whig Cabinet, composed of members of the 
great Whig families, the Cavendishes and Russells of modern 
Japan (though without their pedigrees), and sustained by 
the patronage which the Japanese equivalents to rotten 
boroughs afford. The system possesses that desperate 
tenacity which is the result of inherited ability and con- 
scious worth. It has the authority which prescription and 
possession unite to confer, and it is undoubtedly in conformity 
with the history and the most cherished traditions of the 
people. A long time may yet elapse before it disappears ; 
but ultimately, in face of an opposition which complains with 
some truth that it is being deluded by the mere semblance 
of liberty and outward form of change, it seems destined to 
perish, as did the influence of the Whig oligarchy in England. 
It will have been noticed that in each of the three 
. Parliamentary sessions of which I have spoken, 
tion of the the majority of the Lower House, profiting by 
overeign. ^^^ liberty conceded by an article in the Con- 
stitution, ^ addressed frequent representations to the Throne, 

1 Article xmx. 'Both Houses of the Imperial Diet may respectively 
present addresses to the Emperor.' 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 33 

in a sense hostile to the Government of the day ; and 
further, that in the Session of 1892-93 a settlement of the 
political deadlock was only obtained by the direct intervention 
of the Emperor. This habit of erecting the Sovereign into 
an outside court of appeal against the Executive is both in 
open divei'gence from the spirit, even though permitted by 
the letter, of the Constitution, and, if persisted in, cannot 
fail to cause trouble in the future. Count Ito in his Com- 
mentary on the Constitution evidently never contemplated 
such an abuse of the prerogative of memorial when he thus 
explained its application : — 

' The meaning of the word " addresses " includes the reply to an 
Imperial speech in the Diet, addresses of congratulation or of 
condolence, i*epresentations of opinion, petitions and the like. In 
transmitting the writing, proper forms of respect must be observed. 
The dignity of the Emperor must not be infringed by any pro- 
ceeding implying coercion. ' 

Still more serious however in its consequences, if too 
frequently repeated, must be the personal descent of the 
Sovereign, as a sort of Attic deus ex muchina, on to the 
Parliamentary stage. The Emperor cannot perpetually be 
extricating his Ministers from difficulty, and the Diet from 
a deadlock, by a surrender of part of his Civil List; nor 
should his interposition in the disputes of the Chambers 
come to be regarded as the sole possible exit from a cid 
de sac, carefully prepared in advance by an Opposition 
ostentatiously devoid of any sense of responsibility. The 
Throne occupies a very singular and unique position in the 
polity of modern Japan. Still enveloped in the dignity of a 
limitless past, and not yet wholly stripped of the halo of a 
once divine sanction, it stands out in the breathless turmoil 
of Japanese evolution as the single element of unshaken 
stability, the rallying-point of all pai'ties, the common oracle 

c 



34 JAPAN 

of warring social and political creeds. To the Japanese the 
Emperor is the personification of that intense and perfervid 
spirit of patriotism which, alone of Eastern peoples, they 
appear to feel. He is identified with their beautiful islands, 
with their immemorial language, with their ancestral religion. 
He represents the triumph of no conquering race, of no alien 
caste, and of no compulsory creed. His forefathers created 
Japan for the Japanese to inhabit, and for their descendants 
to rule. So little in Japan are men predisposed to question 
the Imperial sanctity, that it may be said to be almost 
independent of the personality of the Sovereign. Just, 
however, as the Gods of Olympus, when they descended 
from their misty heights, were found to be men of like 
passions with men, and ended by becoming the personifica- 
tions merely of exaggerated human attributes or lusts, so 
will the prestige that still clings to the Mikado's authority 
and name be rapidly dissipated by their employment on the 
battle-ground of parties . or iiT the strife of factions. The 
strength and safeguard of the Throne lies in its entire 
severance from the political arena. For centuries, while 
his practical authority was a figment, the Emperor never 
lost his hold upon the public imagination, because of the 
mysterious and awe-inspiring background in which he lived. 
Rival combatants used his name while they fought, and his 
prerogatives after they had conquered. The clans rose 
and fell, but the Imperial power, though held in suspense, 
remained. Whilst this is no longer either possible or wise, 
yet the attitude of reserve and withdrawal is still, under a 
Parliamentary regime, the true secret of Imperial strength. 
The Emperor's function is to support his Cabinet, who, 
under the Japanese Constitution, are his own servants and 
nominees, and to entertain no address that brings him 
down, so to speak, from the throne, or that touches his 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 35 

prerogatives as fixed by law. Any modification or alteration 
of them should proceed from his own initiative, and not at 
the dictation of the Diet. Nor should such a course be 
attended by any insuperable difficulty, seeing that this is the 
theory of the Imperial prerogative plainly contemplated by 
the fraraers of the new Constitution, and that the latter is 
guarded with the peculiar jealousy attaching to a writteJd 
instrument by a people who claim to see in it the embodiment 
of all constitutional wisdom, and who are sensible enough 
to recognise the danger of beginning to tamper with so 
delicate a fabric. 

A more imminent and less easily soluble problem is that 
presented by the open combat between the Executive and 

the Parliamentary majority. It is obvious from 

^ •> ^ 3. Minis- 

recent experience that the Government, except terial re- 
under the strain of national danger, has little hold sponsibihty. 
over the Diet, and but slight control over public opinion. 
Weekly it has seen itself flouted, insulted, and crippled by a 
combination of parties powerless to eject it, and incapable of 
replacing it if ejected. The Address to the Throne 
presented by the majority of the House of Representatives in 
February 1893 contained the following definition of the 
situation and account of its origin : — 

'Humble reflection leads your Majesty's servants to conclude 
that the chief object of representative government is to promote 
concord between high and low, and to secure their co-operation in 
aid of the State. Hence there can be no profounder or greater 
desideratum than that the Legislature and the Administration 
should occupy towards each other an attitude of thorough sincerity, 
and should achieve the reality of harmonious co-operation. But 
ever since the opening of the Diet, the Legislature and the 
Administration have been wanting in concord, all their projects 
have been impeded, all their capabilities marred, so that in the 
sequel they have failed to secure for tlie country the benefits of 
progressive development in concert with the advance of the age. 



36 JAPAN 

Your Majesty's servants acknowledge that the insufficiency of their 
own zeal is in part responsible for these things, but they believe that 
the chief cause is to be sought in the Cabinet's failure to discharge 
its functions. . . . The origin of the friction between the Govern- 
ment and the Diet, and of the discord between officials and people, 
extends to a remote time. Unless accumulated abuses be removed, 
and the reality of representative government achieved, the nation 
will lapse into a state of decline. . . . Your Majesty's servants 
gave expression to the desire of the people, but the Cabinet utterly 
declined to listen, and thus prevented us from discharging our 
legislative function of consent. Such is not the proper course to 
adopt in adjusting the finances of the Empire and carrying out the 
administration of the State. Your Majesty's servants apprehend 
that, so long as they are associated with such a Cabinet, it will be 
impossible for them to discharge the trust reposed in them by your 
Majesty above, and to give expression to the desires of the people 
below. ' 

Here is a sufficiently plain statement, though couched in 

somewhat circumlocutory language, of the demand by the 

popular Chamber for Party Government upon the accepted 

European lines. Such a demand is wholly inconsistent with 

both the spirit and the letter of the new Constitution. 

Ministerial responsibility is there defined as existing towards 

the Emperor alone, and is thus explained by Count Ito in 

his Commentary : — 

' Who is it except the Sovereign, that can appoint, dismiss, and 
punish a Minister of State ? The appointment and dismissal of 
them having been included by the Constitution in the sovereign 
power of the Emperor, it is only a legitimate consequence, that the 
power of deciding as to the responsibility of Ministers is withheld 
from the Diet. But the Diet may put questions to the Ministers 
and demand open answers from them before the public, and it may 
also present addresses to the Sovereign setting forth its opinions. 
Moreover, although the Emperor reserves to himself in the 
Constitution the right of appointing his Ministers at his pleasure, 
in making an appointment the susceptibilities of the public mind 
must also be taken into consideration. This may be regarded as an 
indirect method of controlling the responsibility of Ministers.' 

What the 'susceptibilities of the public mind' demand in Japan 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 37 

is not however a remote and indirect voice in the appoint- 
ment of Ministers, but a direct voice in their dismissal ; and 
the chasm that separates the two parties is one that no 
concessions on either side appear hkely to fill. Prior to the 
opening of the second Session of 1893 the Government 
testified their recognition of this fact by publishing an 
announcement that until a party (not an accidental or 
momentary combination of parties) appeared in the House 
with an absolute majority on its side, they would neither 
surrender their power nor share it with any section, however 
influential ; and that they would regard no vote of censure 
or rejection of their proposals, but would remain in office 
until men appeared with authority to take it from them. 

This bold acceptance of the challenge to war a outrance 
might seem to some an impolitic defiance of the enemy ; and 
in any country where the Parliamentary system . 

was more developed, or political training more 
widely diff'used, it might be the premonitory symptom of 
ultimate defeat. In Japan itself there exists a strong party 
who see in the so-called popular demand a movement which 
will not lose, but will, on the contrary, gain force until it 
has secured its object and revolutionised the Constitution. 
But there are opposing considerations that may justify 
a more sanguine forecast. First of these is the respect, 
before spoken of, for the written Constitution. Further, 
the prominent men in Japan are almost unanimously in 
favour of the existing law, and the cohesion of the Clan 
and Court party will not easily be broken down. Thirdly, 
the Japanese are as yet too ignorant of Party Government to 
be able to work any such system as is demanded without 
risk of total collapse; the Opposition is so split up by 
personal animosities as to render the creation of a working 
majority out of its ranks highly improbable; whilst the 



38 JAPAN 

Radical party in particular is so far much too wanting in 
dignity or prestige to justify the granting of concessions that 
might transform the intemperate filibusters of the ballot-box 
and the tribune into portfolio politicians. Finally, the analogy 
of foreign States suggests that a modus vivendi will ultimately 
be established in the Chamber itself, by an organised Govern- 
ment party less amenable than now to the shifting currents 
of popular caprice. In the meanwhile, however, we may 
expect a period of political fermentation, and even of chaos^ 
by which such an issue may be for some time retai'ded, and 
from which the Constitution itself may not escape unscathed. 
Among the respects in which the advance of modern 
Japan has been most rapid, though until the recent war 
scarcely appreciated by foreigners, is the development of the 
Japanese military and naval forces of the Empire, Aspiring 
Navy. to play a predominant part in the politics of 

Eastern Asia, she has spared no effort and shrunk from no 
sacrifice to place herself in the matter of armed equipment 
Mpdn a level with her possible competitors. The Japanese 
are born sailors ; and a country with so extensive and 
vulnerable a seaboard could in no case afford to neglect its 
maritime defences. About their Navy the patriotism of the 
Japanese is as easily aroused as is our own in Great Britain ; 
and although the administration of the Naval Department is 
the subject of acrimonious party conflict, there is no disagree- 
ment upon the broad Imperial policy of a largely increased 
naval outlay. When in 1893 the strength of the Japanese 
Navy amounted to 40 vessels and 50,000 tons, and the 
Government laid down the standai'd of national requirement 
as 120,000 tons, there were some among the extreme Radical 
party who would have preferred to see this figure raised to 
150,000. The sums contributed by the Emperor in the crisis 
of 1893, and ordered to be deducted from the salaries of all 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 39 

military and civil officials, were specially ear-marked from 

the start for the construction of new battleships of the first 

rank. An order amounting to £2,000,000 was placed in 

England ; and now that the war is over, it is in contemplation 

very largely to increase that branch of the national forces to 

which in the main Japan owed her decisive victory ; and 

Count Ito's boast to me that the Japanese fleet was the next 

strongest to that of China in the Northern Pacific, and was 

far more serviceable for action, was more than justified by 

events. It is largely by the offer of the alliance of her Navy 

that Japan hopes in the future to control the balance of 

power in the Far East. Simultaneously the maritime 

defences of the country, which have been executed under 

the superintendence of a distinguished Italian engineer, have 

reached a formidable state of proficiency ; and we are not 

likely'to have any ' Shimonoseki bombardment ' in the future. 

Not less satisfactory or admirable is the spectacle presented 

by the reorganised Army of modern Japan. With a 

mobilised peace-footinsr of between 50,000 and 

^ Army. 

60,000 men, with a first reserve of 89,000, and a 

second reserve of 104,500, armed, equipped, and drilled 
according to the highest standard of nineteenth-century 
requirement, and moreover economically and honestly ad- 
ministered, the Japanese Army need not shrink from the 
test of comparison, in point of efficiency, with the forces of 
European States. Lest, however, my appreciation should be 
attributed to the uninstructed partiality of the civilian eye, 
let me quote an English military authority. Colonel E. G. 
Barrow, who visited Japan shortly before the war. Confess- 
ing that he Avas ' fairly astonished by the marvellous picture 
which military Japan presents,' he amplifies this statement 
as follows : — ^ 

1 United Service Magazine, September 1893. 



\j 



40 JAPAN 

' The officers of the Japanese Army have mostly passed through 
the Imperial Military School^ and may therefore be held to be of 
much the same stamp professionally as the generality of officers of 
European armies. The barracks are two-storeyed wooden build- 
ings, with airy, well-ventilated rooms, and scrupulously clean. 
The store-rooms are, however, the really striking feature of the 
Japanese military system. In completeness and in arrangement 
there is nothing better to be found in Europe. ... As regards 
the troops, the infantry are very good — better even than some 
European infantry I could name ; the artillery good, or at least 
fair ; and the cavalry indifferent. This is scarcely to be wondered 
at. The Japanese are not an equestrian race ; their horse possesses 
neither of the charging qualities of speed or weight ; and, finally, 
the jihysical aspect of the country is not one that could ever hope 
for the development of good cavalry, . . . The army is not a 
paper sham, but a complete living organisation, framed on the 
best models, and as a rule thoroughly adapted to the requirements 
of the country. . . . Here we have an army of 75,000 men, 
capable of being trebled in war, which costs only about $17,000,000, 
or, approximately, i;2,500,000. . . . The Japanese soldier has dis- 
cipline, perseverance, and great endurance. Has he valour also } ' 

To the latter question no one who is acquainted with the 
many striking pages in Japanese history can hesitate to 
return an affirmative answer. There is no nation in the 
world, of anything like comparable antiquity, whose annals 
exhibit a more brilliant record of personal valour and 
patriotic devotion. For over a thousand years there have 
been sung in Japan some verses that fitly express the high 
ideal of feudal and national loyalty that has always been 
entertained by the Japanese soldier : — 

' Is my path upon the ocean yonder ? 

Let the waves my shipwrecked body hide ! 
Must I over plain and mountain wander } 
Let my slain corpse 'neath the grass abide ! 
Where'er I cease, 
For me no peace 
Of last release, 
I shall perish by my liege-lord's side ! ' 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 41 

Nor could any people have enacted the tragedy of the 
Forty-seven Ronins, or maintained for centuries the strange 
but heroic code of honour involved in hm-a kiri, without 
possessing a superlative though misdirected form of human 
courage.^ 

A still more recent work by an English military critic 
contains an equally discriminating but not less laudatory 
verdict upon the Japanese Army.- The author 
describes the cavalry as poor, for the reasons rative 
before-mentioned, but the infantry as quite op'mon. 
excellent, the drill as smart and efficient, the armament as 
good, and the barrack accommodation as admirable. He 
supplies figures, dei-ived from official sources, of the numerical 
strength of the various battalions, regiments, brigades, and 
divisions ; and he gives the total strength of the Territorial 
Army and Reserves combined as 228,850 men. If his views 
of what the Japanese Army may be expected to do in the 
field of international action are in excess of all probability, 
his testimony to its practical efficiency as a fighting machine 
is sufficiently authoritative to merit quotation. 

Finally, there is the experience of the recent war, in 
which, though the Japanese never encountered a serious 
resistance nor fought a critical battle, there is a general 
consensus of opinion that they displayed the highest 
qualities of organisation, discipline, and courage, qualities 
indeed which merited a more worthy foe. 

1 For many instances of such courage, vide A. B. Mitford's Tales of Old 
Jajxm. "With them may be compared the comparatively recent incident 
that conchided the sanguinary Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. Old Saigo, with 
a band of devoted adherents, made his wa}^ from the East, where his army 
had been cut off, to his native place, Kagoshima. There, entrenched on a 
hill above the town, he and his men fought till they perished. When he 
fell, wounded, he prayed his devoted friends to cut off his head. They com- 
plied, and then committed sviicide. The dead bodies were found together. 

- On Short Leave to Jajxtn. By Captain G. J. Younghusband. London, 
1894. Chap. xvii. 



42 JAPAN 

To a sympathiser with Japan not the least gratifying 
among the evidences of her progress are the signs of a quite 
uncommon financial prosperity. Money is plenti- 
ful in the country. There is a great circulation 
in notes, and a large reserve in specie in the banks. The 
Government has a handsome surplus at its command ; and, 
inasmuch as the bulk of the taxes are levied by fixed laws, 
the economies resulting from the recent administrative 
reforms, which have already produced an annual reduction 
of $8,000,000, will considerably swell this total. In con- 
sequence of the profitable year's trade in 1892, all good 
stocks rose in value from 20 to 30 per cent. There has 
further been a very rapid development of Government 
credit, as illustrated by the conditions of the National Debt. 
Bonds paying a high rate of interest have either been 
converted into 5 per cent, bonds or have been paid off 
without option of conversion. The only portion of the 
Debt which is still located outside of Japan is a sum of 
£750,000, which was raised in 1873 and will mature in 1897. 
Upon this 7 per cent, interest is paid in gold, equivalent to 
Japan to 13 per cent, on the original capital. The interest 
on the remainder of the Debt is paid in silver. The total 
internal debt amounts to $252,000,000, to the payment of 
pi'incipal and interest upon which $22,000,000 are applied 
annually. Japanese statesmen have fortunately formed a 
very high conception of the value both of national credit 
and of financial retrenchment ; and the suspicion of ex- 
travagance or corruption is one that arouses an immediate 
furore in the Chamber. It is to be regretted that in 
their dealings with foreigners the standard of commercial 
morality that is commonly observed by Japanese merchants 
is neither so blameless in theory nor so inflexible in 
practice. 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 43 

As regards the Trade of Japan, I will not here reproduce 

statistics that may be found in Consular publications, but 

will merely notice certain salient characteristics. 

Trade. 
Her foreign trade has increased so I'apidly that 

its total sterhng value, which in 1892 stood at £23,800,000, 
is nearly double that of 1884, and five and a half times as 
much as that of 1867. The share in this total that is 
claimed by the British Empire (i.e. Great Britain, India, and 
the Colonies) is by far the largest, amounting to over 
£8,250,000 ; although these figures represent a steady 
recent decline, the proportion, which in 1890 was 41 per 
cent, of the whole, having, mainly owing to the greatly 
increased export of silk and tea to the United States, fallen 
to 35 per cent, in 1892. In shipping, however. Great 
Britain easily retains her predominance ; the total tonnage 
of British vessels trading with Japan exceeding that of all 
other countries, including Japan itself, put together. Of 
the total merchandise imported into and exported from 
Japan in 1892, 58 per cent, was carried in British bottoms. 
The German proportion in the same year was 10 per cent. ; 
while the figure that is held to justify the lofty com- 
mercial aspirations of France in the Far East was only 
13 per cent. 

A more remarkable development of Japanese commerce 
is the advance of her own manufacturing industries. Japan 
is rapidly becoming her own purveyor, particularly 
of cotton clothing. The simultaneous process is turing 
observed in her Custom Returns of a great increase ^"""^tnes. 
in the import of raw material, and a corresponding decrease 
in that of manufactured goods. In 1892 she imported 
eleven times the quantity of raw cotton imported in 1887 ; 
while since 1888 her import of manufactured cottons has 
decreased 44 per cent. In the last five years her expoi't of 



44 JAPAN 

goods manufactured in her own looms has been quadrupled. 
That this process has been very much accelerated by the 
recent changes in Indian currency there can be no doubt. 
Just as India has hitherto profited in her competition with 
Lancashire^ so will Japan now profit in her competition with 
Bombay. She is rapidly extending her plant, and in the 
course of last year had doubled her number of spindles. 
Especially will she profit in her export of manufactured 
cottons to China. Both are silver-standard countries, and 
in both wages are paid in silver ; and when her superior 
proximity, her low rate of wages, and the cheapness of coal, 
are taken into account,^ Manchester and Bombay alike 
should find in her a most formidable competitor. There is 
even a talk in Japan of still further stimulating this natural 
movement by abolishing both the import duty on raw 
cotton and the export duty on the manufactured article. 
European merchants are for the moment somewhat non- 
plussed by this Japanese development. But it may be 
pointed out to them that any falling off in foreign imports 
which may result from native competition should be more 
than compensated by the increased purchasing power of 
Japan in respect of foreign articles, such as machinery, which 
she cannot provide herself. Among the other resources 
which Japan is turning to good account in her industrial 
expansion is her coal. Japanese coal is now exported 
everywhere throughout the Far East, the total export 
having been estimated at over 1,000,000 tons in the year ; 
it is burned on the majority of steamers between Yokohama 
and Singapore, and it may be said to have driven the 
Australian product from the Eastern market. 

1 The wages of a cotton oioerative in Japan are from 10 to 20 cents {i.e. 3d. 
to 6d.) a day. Japanese coal is delivered at the mills for $2^ (i.e. 6s. 3d.) a 
ton. 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 45 

Among the questions which are much discussed, alike by 

foreigners and residents^ and about which very contrary 

opinions are expressed, not merely at different 

times, but by different writers at the same time, Japanese 

is the general attitude of the Japanese people, towards 

foreigners. 
and particularly of the rising generation, towards 

foreigners. It should not be inferred, because Japan has 

recognised that Europe is ahead of herself in many branches 

of knowledge and resources of civilisation, and that she 

must go to Germany for her guns, to France, Germany, 

and England for her law, to England for her railways — that 

she is therefore an indiscriminate admirer of that which 

she imitates, or that the Western man is an idol in her social 

pantheon. On the contrary, the more she has assimilated 

European excellences the more critical she has become of 

European defects ; whilst the at times precipitate rapidity 

of her own advance has produced a reactionary wave, which 

occasionally assumes serious proportions. The existence of 

such a feeling is by no means surprising when we remember 

the forces by which it is recruited. Among these may be 

counted the latent Consei'vatism in the national character, 

which, though but little expressed, still smoulders with an 

internal combustion that, like those sudden shocks of nature 

that wreck the Japanese landscape, now and then breaks 

forth in a passionate vendetta of outrage or assassination ; 

the inordinate vanity of the people, fostered at once by 

their illustrious antiquity and by the ease M'ith which they 

seem to have planted themselves in the forefront of the 

files of time ; the indiscreet rapidity with which they have 

been asked to swallow, almost in the same gulp, a foreign 

dress, a foreign language, and a foreign religion ; and a 

consciousness of national strength that resents the suspicion 

of having bartered its birthright to aliens. Political in- 



46 JAPAN 

cidents — a proposal of Treaty Revision on terms at all 
derogatory to the national dignity, the not too sensitive 
and sometimes brutal candour of the European Press, the 
resolutions passed at a meeting of foreign merchants — may 
excite this feeling to a white heat of fury. At other times 
it slumbers. 

In 1891 it seemed for a time to have experienced a sharp 
inflammation, but afterwards to have subsided. Towards 
the close of 1893 it underwent a brisk revival, in con- 
sequence of the judgment of the British Supreme Court 
at Shanghai, reversing the decision of the inferior Court at 
Yokohama in the case of the collision of the P. and O. 
steamship Ravenna with the Japanese cruiser Chishima in 
Japanese waters. This judgment, which was adverse to 
the Japanese claims, was criticised as though it were a 
deliberate exhibition of foreign malevolence, directed against 
the expanding ambitions of Young Japan. Foreigners, in- 
cluding some old and well-known residents, were openly 
insulted in the streets of the capital, while the native police 
made not the slightest effort to interfere ; and a sharp 
reminder required to be addressed to the latter of their 
elementary duties. Another manifestation is the boycotting 
of foreign manufactures, even when the corresponding native 
articles are of greatly inferior quality. In 1892 an attempt 
was actually made upon the life of a well-known native 
merchant, because he had advocated the use of foreign 
pipes for the Tokio water-works. These emotions find their 
chief exponents among the student class, many of whom, 
under the tuition of American missionaries, have imbibed 
American notions of democracy, and whose smattering of 
universal knowledge seems likely to create a considerable 
element of danger. Perhaps the most innocent form is 
the continuous dismissal of foreigners from posts in the 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 47 

public service, or in the employ of business firms, their 
places being filled by Japanese specially educated, though 
not vmiformly fitted, for tlie pm'pose.^ Serious though these 
individual ebullitions undoubtedly are, the best authorities 
do not seem to anticipate any very perilous developments 
of this phase of national resuscitation ; and it may probably 
be regarded as the best safety-valve for humours that might 
othei'wise require a more tempestuous outlet. 

A collateral illustration of the same thoughtless and some- 
times foolish patriotism is the passionate excitement dis- 
played by the Japanese at any assertion, however 

extravagant or ridiculous, of the national spirit. '^^ (polboy 
° ' ^ patriotism. 

In this respect they may be termed the French- 
men of the Far East. In the course of 1 893 there occurred 
three illustrations of this unseasonable ardour. A young 
lieutenant organised a project for forming a fishing and 
marauding colony on one of the Kurile Islands ; and when 
he started from Tokio with thirty volunteer companions in 
a number of open row-boats upon this scatterbrained quest, 
the populace crowded the wharves of the Sumida, and gave 
an ovation to the departing hero as though he were Nelson 
embarking at Portsmouth to take command of the Medi- 
terranean Fleet. Presently came the retributory sequel. 
The lieutenant encountered a storm. Two of his boats wei'e 
swamped, and seventeen of the would-be colonists were 
drowned. The second instance was that of a Japanese 
military attache at St. Petersburg, who rode overland from 
that place to Vladivostok. When he landed in Japan he 
was received with as much honour as though he were Moltke 
returning from the Franco-German campaign. One trembles 

1 In July 1893 the total number of foreigners in the employ of the 
Japanese Government, which a few years ago stood at several hundreds, was 
only 7", of whom 33 were British, 14 C4ermans, 10 Americans, and 5 French. 



48 JAPAN 

to think what will be the fate reserved for a genuine 
Japanese hero^ should such a one ever appear. The third 
example was even more puerile. In pursuit of a forward 
policy as regards Korea, the Government was persuaded in 
1892 to send a new Minister to that Court. This individual, 
having insulted the King of Korea, and quarrelled with 
his Ministers, was very shortly recalled ; but, owing to his 
name being popularly associated with a policy of so-called 
courage and energy, in other words with the daring 
diplomacy of gunboats and bounce, he was entertained and 
toasted at a great banquet at Tokio upon his return. 
How widespread and indeed universal these feelings were, 
was shown by the spirit with which the war with China, 
as soon as declared, was taken up, by the public con- 
tributions that at once flowed in, and by the cheerful alacrity 
with which even the severest sacrifices were submitted to 
in the vindication of what was conceived to be the national 
honour. The strain involved by the campaign, and the 
reaction following upon profound exertion, coupled with the 
check subsequently imposed upon .Japanese ambitions by 
the combined pressure of France, Russia, and Germany, 
may have exercised a sobering influence upon Japanese 
statesmen. But upon the public it is doubtful whether 
any such effect has been produced ; and the national 
temperament, elated with the pride of conspicuous achieve- 
ment, will be liable at intervals to sudden outbreaks of 
impetuous Chauvinism. 

It is probable that these pyrotechnics of a somewhat 
schoolboy patriotism, which are not unnatural in the case, 
either of a country like Japan that is tentatively winning 
its way to greatness, or of one like France that is smarting 
under the memory of a great national humiliation, will 
diminish in proportion as Japan secures the i*ecognition at 



THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN JAPAN 49 

which she is aiming, and acquires the self-control that is 

born of conscious strength. At present they bring a smile 

to the lip even of the most impassioned apologist for 

national delirium. 

A further question, much agitated by foreigners, and 

especially by English and Americans, is the likelihood of 

Christianity being adopted as the national re- 
Chances 
ligion of Japan. A combination of circumstances of Chiis- 

— the disestablishment of Buddhism in the present y ^"^ ^ ^^ 
reign, the reasonable character and general free- 
dom from superstition of the people, the admitted indifference 
to older creeds of the upper classes, and the unhampered 
field opened to the labours of the foreign missionary societies 
— has led many to suppose that here, at least, the Church 
of Christ is sure of a magnificent spoil, and that Japan is 
trembling on the brink of a mighty regeneration. If I do 
not share these anticipations it is not from any denial either 
of the strenuous exertions of the reapers, or of the intrinsic 
richness of the harvest. But, though the State in Japan 
has withdrawn its sanction from Buddhism, the stream of 
the common people does not appear to have been one whit 
diverted from its crumbling, but still hallowed, shrines ; 
and in the clapping of hands and short prayer before the 
gilded altar, and the practical sermons of the bonzes, the 
lower classes still find what is to them an adequate salvation. 
At the old capital, Kioto, there had been building for many 
years, out of private subscriptions only, and there has since 
been completed and opened, what is by far the largest 
Buddhist temple in all Japan. Nor can a people be described 
as without faith who yearly send forth tens of thousands of 
pilgrims to climb the sacred summits of Fuji, 12,300 feet 
high, and of Nantaisan. 

On the other hand, with the upper and lettered classes, 

D 



50 JAPAN 

the advance of knowledge has bi-ought a widespread 
scepticism, and a reluctance to accept a dogma that eludes 
the test of material analysis. Neither can I think that the 
missionary army, though it enters the field with banners 
waving and soldiers chanting, utilises its strength to the 
best advantage by dividing its host into so many conflicting 
and sometimes hostile brigades. I find in the directory 
that at Tokio alone there are represented thirty-one different 
missionary churches^ societies, sects, or denominations, with an 
aggregate of 300 male and female missionaries. When Epis- 
copalians, Presbytei'ians, Baptists, Evangelicals, Lutherans, 
Church of England, Methodists, Reformed, Russian Orthodox, 
Quakers, Unitarians, and Universalists appear simultaneously 
upon the scene, each claiming to hold the keys of Heaven 
in their hand, it cannot be thought surprising if the Japanese, 
who have hardly made up their minds that they want a 
Heaven at all, are somewhat bewildered by the multiplicity 
of volunteer doorkeepers. Were the ethical teachings of 
the Bible to be offered to them in a systematised body of 
precept and of prayer they might turn a willing ear. Nay, 
I doubt not that a committee of Japanese experts would 
undertake to-morrow the codification of the moral, just as 
they have already done that of the civil and criminal law ; 
and that they would turn out for the edification of their 
fellow-countrymen an admirable synthesis of the ethics of 
all time. Who shall say whether the new Japan may not 
yet undertake this momentous task } In the meantime the 
omens appear to be against the official or popular selection 
of any professed branch of Christian theology. 



CHAPTER III 

JAPAN AND THE POWEllS 

And statesmen at her council met 
"Who knew the seasons when to take 
Occasion by the hand and make 

The bounds of freedom wider yet. 

Tennyson. 

Ever since the Restoration^ and with a progress that has 
advanced by leaps and bounds during recent years, as the 
nation has increased in stature and acquired no 
modest or shrinking estimate of its own im- Revhfon 
portance, the biggest political question in Japan 
has been Treaty Revision. For a long while dwarfed by the 
more serious imminence of domestic problems, and retarded 
by the immaturity and inexperience of the new regime, 
sinking at times into a complete background, but at others 
sweeping all before it on a tide of popular emotion, it has 
exercised much the same disturbing and seismic influence 
upon Japanese politics as has the Home Rule question in 
Great Britain. It has made and it has upset Ministries, and 
might even do so again. At the time of my visit it con- 
fronted the strongest Government that Japan could produce 
with a problem which even its strength, it was feared, would 
prove unequal to solve ; and although these expectations 
were belied by events, and the first Treaty with a European 
Power conceding Revision was signed with England in July 
1894, yet this Treaty, under the terms of agreement, not 
having yet come into operation, and depending for its 

61 



52 JAPAN 

ultimate enactment upon the future proceedings of other 
Powers, this question cannot be considered as finally settled ; 
and it may not therefore be inopportune to reprint in these 
pages the discussion which appeared in the original edition, 
the more so as the argument therein contained may supply a 
test by which the actual Treaty (printed as an appendix) may 
be judged in the interval that will precede its coming into 
actual operation. 

The Treaties which until superseded by the English and 
similar Treaties, now in course of negotiation with the other 
yr. Powers, still regulate the commercial relations of 

of the Japan with foreign countries, and which provide 

for the residence in the Treaty Ports, and for the 
separate jurisdiction there of foreign subjects, were concluded 
at various periods with no fewer than eighteen signatory 
Powers,^ since the first American Treaty was signed by 
Commodore Perry in 1855. Roughly speaking, the contract 
between the two parties was in each case as follows. Japan 
consented to open a limited number of ports to foreign trade 
and residence.- There only were the subjects of the con- 
tracting Powers permitted to live, to trade, to buy or sell 
property, or to engage in industrial enterprise. Outside the 
narrow limits of the settlements all these privileges were 
forbidden ; nor was travel or movement permitted without a 
passport. On the other hand, inside the pale the subjects 
of foreign Powers were exempted from Japanese jurisdiction, 

1 These are Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, 
Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, America, 
Peru, Mexico, Hawaii, and China. 

- The Open Ports are Yedo (Tokio), Kanagawa (Yokohama), Hiogo (Kobe), 
Osaka, Hakodate, Nagasaki, and Niigata. The following ports were subse- 
quently opened in 1890 to Japanese exporters of grain, rice, flour, sulphur, 
and coal : — Shimonoseki, Moji, Hakata, Karatsu, Kuchinotsu, Misumi, 
Yokkaichi, Fushikij Kushiro, Naba, Mororan, and Otaru. The numbers of 
resident foreigners in the,Treaty Ports, on January 1, 1894, were as follows : — 
British 1458, Americans 700, Germans 41(5, French 349. 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 53 

except, of course^ when suing Japanese subjects, and were 
amenable only to their own Consular Courts — a prerogative 
commonly described as the Extra-territorial system ; while 
the Customs tariff on foreign trade was fixed at a nominal 5 
per cent, ad valorem, on the majority of foreign imports, to- 
gether with a duty of 5 per cent, on exports. Such is the 
system under which Japanese association with the outer 
world has been conducted, at least upon Japanese soil, for 
nearly forty years ; from which for years she made so many 
abortive efforts to escape ; and under which she proclaimed, 
with yearly increasing insistence, that it was incompatible 
with her national dignity to continue. 

Conscious that the terms of original agreement could not 
be permanently stereotyped, a clause in the English Treaty, 

concluded by Lord Elgin in 1858, provided for „ 

-' ^ ^ Postpone- 

future revision, upon the notice of either of the ment of 
high contracting Powers, in 187^.^ But when 
1872 arrived neither party was in a position to move; and 
on the various occasions later, when revision was seriously 
attempted, the endeavour resulted in failure owing to the 
difficulty of reconciling the conflicting claims of the foreign 
Powers, who were avei'se to stepping down from their 
pinnacle of vantage without either a definite qtiid pro quo, or 
at least a guarantee that they would not suffer by the sur- 
render ; and of Japan, who, with a natural consciousness of 
her steadily improving position and of the obligations of what 
she termed her ' sovereign rights,' whittled away one by one 
the counter concessions which she was at first prepared to 
make, and even talked about exacting conditions herself. 
Hence the deadlock in which, sooner or latei', negotiations 

1 Art. XXII. — 'It is agreed that either of the high contracting parties, on 
giving one year's notice to the other, may demand a revision on or after July 
1, 1872, with a view to the insertion of snch amendments as experience shall 
prove to be desirable.' 



54 JAPAN 

were always involved. For my own part I never shared 
the feelings of either of those schools between which public 
opinion^ as represented in books and newspapers about Japan, 
seems to have been divided— namely, those, on the one hand, 
the sentimental side of whose nature, inflamed, if they were 
Japanese, by patriotism, if they were foreigners, by contact 
with an engaging people and a pretty country, revolted 
against what they described as a great national wrong, 
whereby Japan was cheated out of her birthright, and was 
kept in perpetual exile in the tents of Edom, or, on the 
other hand, those who argued for the strict letter of the 
treaties ad ceternum, and declined to make the smallest 
concession to the vast change that forty years had effected 
in the status of modern Japan. The former attitude was 
adopted — naturally enough — by Japanese writers ; foolishly, 
as it seemed to me, by the majority of English and American 
tourists in Japan, who, without an inkling of what was going 
on behind the scenes, or of the labours of those whom they 
condemned, pronounced ex cathedra upon a situation of which 
they really knew as little as, for example, they might do of 
the difference between old and modern lacquer. The second 
or ultra-Conservative attitude was and still is taken up by 
many of the merchant class in the Treaty Ports, who, for 
perfectly honourable but selfish reasons, would like to main- 
tain the status quo as long as they can. As a matter of facb 
there was quite sufficient justice on both sides of the con- 
troversy to admit of temperate discussion and of amicable 
agreement; and the energies of the true friends of Japan 
were properly directed to minimising the points of friction 
and broadening the basis of possible compromise, instead of 
sharpening their blades for a further barren encounter. 

With approximate fairness the two cases may be thus 
stated. Japan demanded Judicial autonomy and she de- 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 55 

manded Tariff autonomy, from both of which, as ah-eady 
explained, she was excluded by the Treaties. She de- 
manded the foi'mer, because it was derogatory 
to the dignity of a civilised Power to have alien . j ^^^^ 
courts of justice sitting within her territories, and 
because she claimed to have acquired a jurisprudence based 
upon the best European models. She demanded the latter, 
because she was precluded from utilising her imports and 
exports, except upon certain narrowly prescribed lines, as an 
expanding source of Imperial revenue. Upon her imports 
she has hitherto made an average of about 4^ per cent, in 
customs, and has been compelled in consequence to fix her 
export duties at a higher figure than she would wish. She 
desired to raise the former with a view to reducing the latter, 
and the Land-tax in addition, Extra-territoriality being 
abolished, the foreign settlements and municipalities would 
lose their present character and would, so to speak, ' fall in ' 
to the Japanese Government, which would probably issue 
new leases for the land held by foreigners therein, similar to 
the leases held by Japanese. If she could get these main 
concessions (she would, of course, like a few more thrown in), 
Japan was prepared to open the entire country to foreigners. 
She took her stand, therefore, ignoring the existing Treaties, 
upon the solid facts of her attained position and prestige, 
and upon an appeal to the enlightened sympathies of foreign 
nations. 

The merchants, on the other hand, for whom the Powers, 
through their ministers, are the official spokesmen, have not 
been particularly keen about the opening up of the , 
country, in which they do not see the prospect of of the 
great mercantile advantage to themselves ; they 
are averse to the conditions under which they hold land in 
the settlements (as the result of a covenant with the Japanese 



56 JAPAN 

Government) being altered or assimilated to native custom 
without their consent; and they are genuinely alarmed at 
the pi'oposed abolition of Consular jurisdiction and the 
settlement of all cases, in which they may be concerned as 
litigants, in Japanese courts and before Japanese judges. 
They point to the admitted facts that the reorganised courts 
have not been long established, and that the bench, though 
occupied by Japanese who have been partially educated in 
Western Universities, lacks alike the tradition and the 
distinction of European judiciaries. They contend that mis- 
carriage of justice would result, in the main from the igno- 
rance, sometimes, perhaps, from the prejudice, of native 
judges. They fear the risk and complexity of processes 
before a strange court in a strange language ; and they 
resent the possible subjection of their lives and homes to the 
domiciliary visits of native policemen. Moreover, they have 
a very well-founded distrust, not merely of the administration 
of Japanese law, but of the law itself, particularly in such 
points as the law of evidence and the law of contract, which 
are interpreted in Japan in a manner little in harmony with 
European ideas. Finally, they can point in support of their 
alarms to the constant diplomatic troubles arising out of 
'miscarriage of justice ' in the small independent States of 
the New World. Some of their papers have published vei'y 
wild and silly articles about the inherent incapacity of the 
Japanese for the exercise of judicial authority of any kind ; 
although I suspect that many of the British merchants who 
may be involved as litigants in the courts of the petty South 
American Republics would not so very greatly object to a 
change of venue to the courts of modern Japan. But though 
these more extravagant diatribes may be disregarded, there 
is undoubtedly a solid substratum of truth in the apprehen- 
sions of the foreign trading community, and any attempt to 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 57 

precipitate too hasty a solution could only involve the 
Japanese Government itself in difficulties which it had not 
contemplated. 

In what quarter, then, did the solution lie ? The answer 
was to be found in a brief examination of the various pro- 
posals for Treaty Revision that had so far been 

Previous 
made by Japanese statesmen to the foreign repre- attempts 

sentatives, or vice versa. Their history had been ^. ^J^' . 

one of unbroken disappointment and failure ; Inouye, 
, ; , . . n 1882-87. 

but it was also marked by certam signs 01 pro- 
gressive development in which there was hope for the 
future. Three times in the last twelve years had Japanese 
Foreign Ministers made overtures to the Treaty Powers. 
The first of these was Count Inouye, the present Minister for 
Home Affairs, who in 1882 originally suggested the viltimate 
abolition of Consular jurisdiction and the ad interim discussion 
of terms. A preliminary conference was summoned in 1882, 
and memoranda, prepared by the British and the Japanese 
Governments, were successively submitted. The negotia- 
tions continued till, in 1886, the actual conference of all the 
Treaty Powers met in Tokio, when a definite scheme, 
initiated by the British and German Governments, was pro- 
pounded, and passed through many of the preliminary stages 
both of examination and acceptance. There were to be a 
large number of foreign j udges on the Japanese bench, the 
conditions of whose appointment and removal evoked much 
hostile criticism in the native Press. The promised codes 
and future amendments therein were to be submitted to the 
Foreign Powers — an additional source of national irritation. 
It was not surprising that upon these points the negotiations 
at length broke down in 1887, although it was to be regretted 
that the opportunity was lost of effecting a settlement on 
conditions even a contracted edition of which was far more 



58 JAPAN 

favourable to the scruples of foreigners than any later treaty 
was likely to be. 

Undeterred by the failure of his predecessor^ Count Okuma 
resumed negotiations in 1888 ; but, having learned by ex- 
p perience the mistake of dealing with a Round 

Okuma, Table at which the representatives of eighteen 
nations, with conflicting interests, were seated in 
conclave, he approached the Powers individually, offering, 
in place of an elaborate scheme of courts with foreign 
judges, the presence of a majority of foreign assessors in the 
Supreme Courts in cases where foreigners were concerned. 
A space of three years was to elapse between the promulga- 
tion of the promised codes and the final abolition of Consular 
jurisdiction. Upon these lines the United States, Germany, 
and Russia had already signed treaties ; and Great Britain, 
the vast preponderance of whose commercial interests in 
Japan renders her in every case the arbiter of the situation, 
was within measurable distance of the same end, the nature 
and extent of the securities to be given for the administration 
of justice to foreigners being one of the few points still 
undetermined, when, public opinion having been already 
gravely excited in Japan at the proposed appointment of 
alien judges, and being further inflamed by the promulgation 
of the new Parliamentary Constitution and the impending 
elections for the first Diet, an attempt was made with a 
dynamite bomb upon the life of Count Okuma in October 
1889. The statesman escaped, though seriously mutilated. 
The would-be assassin killed himself. But his ulterior object 
had already been gained, for, at the very Cabinet Council in 
leaving which the bomb was thrown at Count Okuma, a 
decision had been arrived at, on the advice of Count 
Yamagata, who had just returned fi'om a special mission to 
Europe, to suspend negotiations. Once more, accordingly. 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 59 

was Treaty Revision dropped like a hot coal from the baffled 
fingers of the plenipotentiaries at Tokio. Nor could this 
renewed failure be fairly set down to cowardice, seeing that 
public sentiment, though not behind the assassin, was in 
open sympathy with the motives that had actuated him to a 
deed which was the more significant that it by no means 
stands alone in the annals of modern Japan. 

Since that date the opening of the Japanese Diet^ and 
the rapid growth both of national self-respect and of ill- 
marshalled but powerful public opinion which it 
has produced, combined to render a settlement a^^u°"'o 
not more easy, while they have provided Japanese 
statesmen with an armoury of defensive pleas which a purely 
irresponsible Government could not previously employ. 
Nevertheless, Viscount Aoki, Foreign Minister in the suc- 
ceeding Government, gallantly re-entered the lists in 1 890 ; 
and his overtures, which were naturally directed in the first 
place to the removal of the lingering vestiges of British 
opposition, were met in the most favourable spirit by the 
administration of Lord Salisbury ; since which it only rested 
with the Japanese Government itself, by the fulfilment of 
conditions which it had more than once admitted to be 
reasonable, to enter upon the fruition of the long struggle 
for complete national autonomy whose successive stages I 
have described. 

What would be the leading features of any such solution 

will have been manifest from what has already been said. 

In the first place, the full text of the entire Civil 

and Commercial Codes under which it is proposed tff^ ° . 

" ^ settlement. 

that foreigners shall in future reside and conduct 
their business, must be promulgated, translated, and put into 
satisfactory operation. No nation could with justice call 
upon the subjects of another, even within its own teiTitories, 



60 JAPAN 

to exchange a position of judicial security, established by 
treaty and ratified by long and successful experience, for the 
dubious protection of an inchoate, an imperfect, or an ill- 
comprehended body of law. Secondly, a period must elapse 
in which the new codes thus promulgated should be tested 
by practical operation, the judges becoming accustomed to 
the exposition of rules which involve in many cases a com- 
plete revolution in Japanese customary law, and the new 
law itself acquiring public respect by pure and consistent 
interpretation. Not until after such a probationary period 
could foreigners reasonably be expected to yield to the 
Japanese demand for complete judicial autonomy.^ Thirdly, 
these conditions having been realised, the final abandonment 
of extra-territorial jurisdiction might fitly be made to syn- 
chronise with the entire opening up of the country. Other 
points might well become the subject of diplomatic pour- 
parlers and of intermediate agreement. Such, for instance, 
were an ad interijn extension of the present passport system 
in return for a revision of the tariff; and the novel but 
intelligible Japanese demand, of which I shall presently 
speak, that foreigners shall not be allowed to own real 
property or to buy shares in Japanese banks, railways, or 
shipping companies. 

There were a multitude of obstacles, however, that 
required to be overcome before any such settlement could 

1 The problem that has already arisen in Japan was anticipated by Sir 
Harry Parkes in his Treaty with Korea^ where it is hardly likely ever to 
arise ; for a protocol to the Treaty (which was signed November 26, 1883) 
contains these words: — 'It is hereby declared that the right of extra- 
territorial jurisdiction over British subjects in Korea, granted by this treaty, 
shall be relinquished when, in the judgment of the British Government, the 
laws and legal procedure of Korea shall have been so far modified and re- 
formed as to remove the objections which now exist to British subjects being 
placed under Korean jurisdiction, and Korean judges shall have attained 
similar legal qualifications and a similar independent position to those of 
British judges.' 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS^ 6l 

be arrived at. The first of these was the Parliamentary 

position of the Codes themselves. Though the process 

of Japanese iudicial reform has been conducted „ . . 

^ •' rosition 

with commendable rapidity, the goal of even of the 
approximate finality is yet far distant. It was in 
1872 that the modern judicial system was first organised 
and courts and judges established; both being subjected to 
a thorough reorganisation in 1890. In the interval the 
Codes have one by one been evolved. The Criminal Code 
and the Code of Criminal Procedure were promulgated in 
1880, and have now for some time been in operation. The 
Code of Civil Procedure was promulgated in 1890, and 
came into operation in 1891. As regards the Civil and 
Commercial Codes, however, the situation is less advanced. 
When I was in Japan in 1892 the Commercial Code had 
already been promulgated, but not yet translated ; and the 
date of its operation, originally fixed for January 1, 1890, 
stood postponed till January 1, 1893. Those portions of 
the incomplete Civil Code that had been published stood 
similarly postponed. In the Session of the Diet of 1892, 
however, the drift of popular opinion was clearly indicated 
by the passing with much enthusiasm by both Houses of a 
bill, introduced by a private member, for further postponing 
the operation of both codes till December 1896, in order 
to submit them in Japanese interests to a thorough over- 
hauling It was with little effect that Viscount Enomoto, 
then Minister for Foreign Affairs, pointed out the intimate 
connection between the Codes and the subject of Treaty 
Revision, and urged the Chamber not once more to slam 
the door in the face of those who had at length shown 
such a temperate willingness to open it. Conservative 
alarm at the innovations introduced by the new Codes, 
particularly in the law of inheritance and in other matters 



62 JAPAN 

affecting family life^ and at the subversion of the imme- 
morial religious traditions of the country, joined hands with 
the Radical aspirations of Young Japan to settle the question 
of Treaties^ not as the Powers like^ but upon her own terms 
and on a footing of absolute equality ; and the bill was 
carried by majorities of more than two to one in both 
Chambers. 

This bill had not received either the assent or veto of 
the Emperor when Count Ito's Cabinet was formed, and 
much speculation was indulged in as to the advice which 
he would give to the Sovereign. As it turned out, the 
postponement was accepted by the Government on the 

ffround that the Codes stood greatly in need of 

Further * b J 

postpone- amendment, but with a proviso that such parts 

of them as were amended to the satisfaction of 

a Special Commission appointed for the purpose and of the 

Diet, might come into operation at any time. Subsequently, 

early in 1893, a large portion of the Commercial Code, 

dealing with the law of partnership and companies, of bills 

of exchange, promissory notes, and cheques, and with the 

law of bankruptcy, was passed, and came into force in July 

1893. It will be seen, therefore, that the Codes are only 

slowly, and by piecemeal, coming into operation, and that 

the test of the practical working of the entire revised law 

is one whose possible application still lies in the future. 

In the same Session (February 1893) the attitude of the 

Lower House on the whole question of Treaty Revision was 

shown by an address to the Throne, which, after 

to the being debated in secret session, was voted by 

Throne 135 to 121. It contained these words, which 
in 1893. ' 

are significant as showing not the wisdom, but the 

temper of the Assembly : — 

'The unfair Treaties remain unrevisecl. The consequence is 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 63 

that our jurisdiction does not extend to foreigners living within 
our borders, nor do we possess tariff autonomy. No trespasses on 
our national rights can be greater than these ; and whenever our 
thoughts dwell upon the subject we are constrained to bitter 
regrets. The exercise of the extra-territorial system enables 
foreigners to obey only their own laws and to be subjected to 
their own judiciary within the territories of this Empire. Yet we, 
in their countries, are compelled to obey their laws and submit 
to their jurisdiction. Further, the restrictions imposed in respect 
of customs tariff disable us from exercising our natural right to 
tax imported goods, whereas foreign coimtries impose heavy duties 
on goods exported by us. Thus our judicial and fiscal rights 
being alike impaired, foreigners are enabled to behave in an 
arbitrary maimer. The result must be that our commerce and 
industries will daily deteriorate, that the national wealth will 
decrease, and that in the end there will be no means of recuperat- 
ing our resources. 1 The fault of concluding such treaties must 
be attributed to the fact that the people of your Majesty's realm, 
both high and low, were basking in tranquillity and peace,^ and, 
as the country had been isolated for a long time, the Ministers of 
State were entirely ignorant of foreign conditions. . . . The right 
of concluding treaties belongs to the prerogatives of your Majesty ; 
and we, your jMajesty's servants, are not permitted to interfere 
with it. But since your Majesty has made oath to the gods in 
heaven above and in the earth beneath, to manage all the affairs 
of the nation and to administer the Empire in accordance with 
popular opinion, we, your Majesty's servants, representing the 
Lower House of the Diet and the opinion of the people of the 
realm, may be permitted humbly to express our opinions. They 
are : — Firstly, that the extra-territorial system be abolished ; 
secondly, that the Empire's tariff autonomy be recovered ; thirdly, 
that the privilege of taking part in the coasting trade be reserved ; 
and, fourthly, that all foreign interference in our domestic 
administration be removed.' 

Such then was the attitude of the Popular Chamber. But 
a far more serious obstacle to successful negotiation consisted 
in the ill-digested but forinidable body of public opinion 

1 Of course this is quite fantastic, the Treaties having so far had a pre- 
cisely oijposite effect, in building up the commercial prosperity and wealth 
of modern Japan. 

- Equallj' absurd and untrue. 



64 JAPAN 

that was called into existence and organised throughout 

the country by the reactionary party, and which threatened 

by the irrational extravagance of its demands to 

Mixed 1**^"^ *^^ prospects of Treaty Revision altogether. 

Residence Although it must have been obvious that Re- 
agitation. 

vision could only I'esult from mutual concessions, 

Japan recovei'ing her judicial and tariff autonomy at the price 
of freely opening the country to foreigners, an association 
named the Great Japan Union was started in 1892, and, 
until its suppression at the end of 1893, conducted a furious 
agitation against what is called Mixed Residence in any form 
in the interior. In other words, foreigners were to surrender 
everything now guaranteed to them by the Treaties, but to 
get nothing whatever in return. In the settlements they 
were to be subject to Japanese laws and jurisdiction, while 
outside their borders they were not to be permitted to live 
or move or have their being. A milder party existed which 
proposed to sanction mixed residence in all other parts of 
the country except Yezo (the Northern Island) and certain 
other specified islands ; but this compromise, which was quite 
illogical and indefensible in itself, did not satisfy the patriots 
of the Great Japan Union, who were bent upon making their 
country and cause ridiculous in the face of mankind. For, 
on the one hand, their agitation, which was based upon an 
unreasoning dread of foreign competition, involved a confes- 
sion of weakness in ludicrous contrast to the vanity by which 
its authors were inspired. Secondly, it showed a complete 
ignorance of and indifference towards all that foreigners have 
done for Japan under the Treaties, in creating its trade, ill 
teaching it the secrets of manufacture and industry, in con^ 
Verting swampy hamlets or fishing villages into magnificent 
and flourishing towns, in pouring daily wages into Japanese 
pockets, and in leaving the lion's share of the profits of 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 65 

commerce in Jajianese hands. Thirdly, it proposed to deprive 
foreigners of the very privileges which in the dominions of 
their respective governments the Japanese already enjoy. 
Fourthly, it was inconsistent with the example set by Japan 
herself, when, in order to acquire a convenient precedent for 
Treaty relationship with a foreign State without extra-terri- 
torial jurisdiction, she concluded, in 1888-89, a treaty with 
Mexico (although there were no Mexican subjects in Japan), 
conceding the privilege of Mixed Residence without any 
restrictions,^ and containing also a raost-favoured-nation 
clause, extending the same privileges to any nation willing to 
accept the same conditions. Finally, this policy was one of 
midsummer madness, since, if persisted in, its only effect 
could have been to stiffen the backs of the Treaty Powers 
(whose subjects it was proposed to subject to this puerile in- 
equality), and so to postpone the Revision to the Greek 
Kalends. A certain section of the extreme party was, how- 
ever, so well aware of this that they proposed to seize the 
opportunity thus deliberately manufactured, in order to 
repudiate the Treaties altogether, ignoring the ignominy that 
would attach to their country if she started upon her inde- 
pendent career with the brand of repudiation upon her bi'ow, 
as well as the humiliating results of a probable naval demon- 
stration of the Foreign Powers who had been so rashly 
insulted. 

It should be added that the Mixed Residence question 
was somewhat complicated by the inclusion among the Treaty 
Powers of Japan's most formidable industrial rival, China. 

1 Article iv. of the Treaty granted to the Mexicans 'the privilege of 
coming, remaining, and residing in all parts of Japanese territories and 
possessions, of there hiring and occupying houses and warehouses, of there 
trading by wholesale and retail in all kinds of j^roducts, manufactures, and 
merchandise of lawful commerce, and, finally, of there engaging and pursu- 
ing all other lawful occupations.' 



66 JAPAN 

Were the privileges of free residence and trade in the 
interior extended without reserve to the frugal and laborious 
_,, subjects of the Celestial Empire, there might be 

Chinese some ground for alarm on the part of Japan at the 
' competition of so powerful an antagonist.^ On the 
other hand, the Chinese Treaty with Japan contained no 
most-favoured-nation clause ; so that privileges conceded to 
other foreigners could not be claimed as a right by her, and 
revision, if desired, need only be effected as a matter of 
separate arrangement. 

A further agitation sprang up, in 1891-92, against the 
ownership by foreigners, as a condition or consequence of 
. . . Treaty Revision, of real or personal property out- 

against side the pale of the settlements. The forms of 

ownership investment commonly specified under this would- 
of property. \^q prohibition were lands, mines, railways, canals, 
waterworks, docks, and shares. This particular outcome of 
native susceptibilities was due to a not unfounded alarm that 
the superior wealth of foreigners might enable them, unless 
carefully guarded by law, to acquire a commanding hold 
upon the national resources, and that Japan might some day 
find herself in the disastrous position of an Asiatic Peru. It 
was not impossible that in the first instance there might be 
some danger in the speculative rush of foreign capital for a 
new form of investment ; although, in the long run, natives 
would enjoy an advantage with which no foreigner could 
compete. It was clear, however, that means ought to be 
found without great difficulty of reconciling these apprehen- 
sions with the reasonable demands of foreign residents pos- 
sessing a large stake in the fortunes of the country, and 
capable of rendering it increased service in the future. 

1 There are at present in the Treaty Ports of Japan, where alone they are 
J)erinitted to reside, 4500 male and 1050 female Chinese, or three-fifths of 
the entire foreign population. 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 67 

The prohibition of the coasting trade to foreigners was 
another of the conditions that were suggested by the alarms 
of the new school that combined in such equal 
proportions timidity with bravado. In the event V ^"^ ^i 
of their extreme demands not being conceded^ and 
of the Government continuing to shrink, as it was bound to 
doj from a policy of repudiation, they further proposed a 
warfare of petty revenge upon the subjects of the recalcitrant 
Powers, which was to take the form of a refusal of passports, 
minute restrictions upon the issue of game licenses, limita- 
tions upon the facilities of railroad and steamboat traffic, up- 
on the postal and telegraphic services, and upon the foreign 
Press, and a strict enforcement of the existing laws as regards 
tenure of property and industrial investment in the interior, 
which had occasionally been eluded by foreigners sheltering 
themselves under Japanese names. 

These were the main difficulties with which the path of 

Treaty Revision was beset. Arranging them side by side 

and observing, on the one hand, the ignorance 

Prospects 
and vanity of the extreme Reactionaries in Japan, of settle- 

the pretensions of the Diet, the openly avowed '"^n'^- 

desire of the Opposition to embarrass the Government, and 

the difficulty experienced by the latter in placing any curb 

upon public opinion ; on the other hand, the genuine alarm 

of the foreign merchants, the mutual jealousies of the various 

Treaty Powers, and the unfortunate enmity which the 

postponement of revision was likely to create between 

natives and foreigners ; it was obvious that here was a 

problem requiring on both sides the exercise of great tact 

and statesmanship. On some points, concessions to Japanese 

sentiment were clearly possible. But on the broad questions 

of the Codes and of Mixed Residence no settlement that 

attempted an unnatural or patchwork compromise was 



68 JAPAN 

feasible, or, even if feasible, was likely to be permanent ; 

while to expect foreigners, with the best will in the world 

towards Japan, voluntarily to strip themselves of all the 

safeguards which Treaty enactments have given them, and 

to hand themselves over as a corpus vile for the experiments 

of Japanese Jacobins or neophytes in political economy^ was 

to presuppose an innocence on their part to which previous 

history would afford no parallel. Fortunately neither the 

leading statesmen of Japan, nor the most responsible organs 

of the native Press, showed any real sympathy with the 

Extremists. Count Ito's plan was to approach the several 

Governments with separate and confidential communications, 

hoping to extract from the complacency or the needs of one 

a concession which should act as a precedent for similar 

terms with the others. Nevertheless Great Britain remained, 

as she had all along been, the pivot of the situation — no 

slight proof of her commanding influence on the destinies of 

distant Asia. And it was to secure her assent to a definite 

plan of Revision that the efforts of the Japanese Ministers 

were in the main directed. The announcement on the very 

day that these pages originally left my hand (July 30, 1 894) 

that Lord Rosebery's Government had concluded a Revision 

Treaty with Japan, which was shortly afterwards ratified, 

and has since been followed by a Supplementary Convention 

regulating the future tariff, was a proof of the conciliatory 

and generous spirit in which the Japanese advances had been 

met, and of Great Britain's desire to welcome into the 

comity of nations a Power with whom we share so many 

common relationships, and whose ambitions present such 

striking features of analogy to our own deeds. 

Upon the Treaty itself, which is printed below, and which 
has been variously described by the two parties previously 
distinguished as an act of statesmanlike magnanimity and 



JAPAN AND THE POWERS 69 

of pusillanimous surrender, I will not here comment, pre- 
fei'ring that its contents should be judged in the light of the 
reasoning already displayed in this chapter. At 
least, however, this credit must, without dispute, be of July 
conceded to Great Britain, and should never be ^ ^^' 
forgotten by Japan, that, first of all the Great Powers, at a 
period anterior to the Chino-Japanese war of 1894-95, and 
consequently under no stress of expediency, emulation, or 
self-seeking, but of her own free-will and with ungrudging 
hand, England assisted Japan to strike off from herself the 
shackles of a past to which she had proved herself superior, 
and which is every day fading into a more rapid oblivion. 



APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III 

I. Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Great 
Britain and Japan. (Signed at London, July l6, 1894; 
ratified at Tokio, August 9,5, 1894.) 

Article I. — The subjects of each of the two High Contracting 
Parties shall have full liberty to enter, travel, or reside in any part 
of the dominions and possessions of the other Contracting Party, 
and shall enjoy full and perfect protection for their persons and 
property. 

They shall have free and easy access to the Courts of Justice in 
pursuit and defence of their rights ; they shall be at liberty equally 
with native subjects to choose and employ lawyers, advocates, and 
representatives to pursue and defend their rights before such 
Courts, and in all other matters connected with the administration 
of justice they shall enjoy all the rights and privileges enjoyed by 
native subjects. 

In whatever relates to rights of residence and travel ; to the 
possession of goods and effects of any kind ; to the succession to 
personal estate, by will or otherwise, and the disposal of property 
of any sort in any manner whatsoever which they may lawfully 
acquire, the subjects of each Contracting Party shall enjoy in the 
dominions and possessions of the other the same privileges, liberties, 
and rights, and shall be subject to no higher imposts or charges in 
these respects than native subjects, or subjects or citizens of the 
most favoured nation. The subjects of each of the Contracting 
Parties shall enjoy in the dominions and possessions of the other 
entire liberty of conscience, and, subject to the Laws, Ordinances, 
and Regulations, shall enjoy the right of private or public exercise 
of their worship, and also the right of burying their respective 
countrymen according to their religious customs, in such suitable 
and convenient places as may be established and maintained for 
that purpose. 
70 



APPENDIX 71 

They shall not be compelled^ under any pretext whatsoever^ to 
pay any charges or taxes other or higher than those that are, or 
may be, paid by native subjects, or subjects or citizens of the most 
favoured nation. 

Article II. — The subjects of either of the Contracting Parties 
residing in the dominions and possessions of the other shall be 
exempted from all compulsory military service whatsoever, whether 
in the army, navy, National Guard, or militia ; from all contribu- 
tions imposed in lieu of personal service ; and from all forced loans 
or military exactions or contributions. 

Article III. — There shall be reciprocal freedom of commerce 
and navigation between the dominions and possessions of the two 
High Contracting Parties. 

The subjects of each of the High Contracting Parties may trade 
in any part of the dominions and possessions of the other by whole- 
sale or retail in all kinds of produce, manufactures, and merchan- 
dise of lawful commerce, either in person or by agents, singly, or in 
partnerships with foreigners or native subjects ; and they may there 
own or hire and occupy the houses, manufactories, warehouses, 
shops, and premises which may be necessary for them, and lease 
land for residential and commercial purposes, conforming them- 
selves to the Laws, Police and Customs Regulations of the country 
like native subjects. 

They shall have liberty freely to come with their ships and 
cargoes to all places, ports, and rivers in the dominions and pos- 
sessions of the other which are or may be opened to foreign com- 
merce, and shall enjoy, respectively, the same treatment in matters 
of commerce and navigation as native subjects, or subjects or 
citizens of the most favoured nation, without having to pay taxes, 
imposts, or duties, of whatever nature or under whatever denomi- 
nation, levied in the name or for the profit of the Government, 
public functionaries, private individuals. Corporations, or establish- 
ments of any kind, other or greater than those paid by native 
subjects, or subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation, subject 
always to the Laws, Ordinances, and Regulations of each country. 

Article IV. — The dwellings, manufactories, warehouses, and 
shops of the subjects of each of the High Contracting Parties in 
the dominions and possessions of the other, and all premises apper- 
taining thereto destined for purposes of residence or commerce, 
shall 1)6 respected. ^ 



72 JAPAN 

It shall not be allowal)le to proceed to make a search of, or a 
domiciliary visit to, such dwellings and premises, or to examine or 
inspect books, papers, or accounts, except under the conditions and 
with the forms prescribed by the Laws, Ordinances, and Regula- 
tions for subjects of the country. 

Article V. — No other or higher duties shall be imposed on the 
importation into the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic 
Majesty of any article, the produce or manufacture of the dominions 
and possessions of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, from what- 
ever place arriving ; and no other or higher duties shall be imposed 
on the importation into the dominions and possessions of His 
Majesty the Emperor of Japan of any article, the produce or manu- 
facture of the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, 
from whatever place arriving, than on the like article produced or 
manufactured in any other foreign country ; nor shall any pro- 
hibition be maintained or imposed on the importation of any article, 
the produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of 
either of the High Contracting Parties, into the dominions and 
possessions of the other, from whatever place arriving, which shall 
not equally extend to the importation of the like article, being the 
produce or manufacture of any other country. This last provision 
is not applicable to the sanitary and other prohibitions occasioned 
by the necessity of protecting the safety of persons, or of cattle, or 
of plants useful to agriculture. 

Article VI. — No other or higher duties or charges shall be im- 
posed in the dominions and possessions of either of the High 
Contracting Parties on the exportation of any article to the 
dominions and possessions of the other than such as are, or may 
be, payable on the exportation of the like article to any other 
foreign country ; nor shall any prohibition be imposed on the 
exportation of any article from the dominions and possessions of 
either of the two Contracting Parties to the dominions and posses- 
sions of the other which shall not equally extend to the exportation 
of the like article to any other country. 

Article VII. — The subjects of each of the High Contracting 
Parties shall enjoy in the dominions and possessions of the other 
exemption from all transit duties, and a perfect equality of treat- 
ment with native subjects in all that relates to warehousing, bounties, 
facilities, and drawbacks. 



APPENDIX 73 

Article VIII. — All articles which are or may be legally im- 
ported into tlie ports of the dominions and possessions of His 
Majesty the Emperor of Japan in Japanese vessels may likewise be 
imported into those ports in British vessels^ without being liable to 
any other or higher duties or charges of whatever denomination 
than if such articles were imported in Japanese vessels ; and re- 
ciprocally, all ai'ticles which are or may be legally imported into 
the ports of the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty 
in British vessels may likewise be imported into those ports in 
Japanese ^'essels, without being liable to any other or higher duties 
or cliarges of whatever denomination than if such articles were 
imported in British vessels. Such reciprocal equality of treatment 
sliall take effect without distinction, whether such articles come 
directly from the place of origin or from any other place. 

In the same manner there shall be perfect equality of treatment 
in regard to exportation, so that the same export duties shall be 
paid and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed in the dominions 
and possessions of either of the High Contracting Parties on the 
exportation of any article which is or may be legally exported 
therefrom, whether such exportation shall take place in Japanese 
or in British vessels, and whatever may be the place of destination, 
whether a port of either of the Contracting Parties or of any third 
Power. 

Article IX. — No duties of tonnage, harbour, pilotage, lighthouse, 
quarantine, or other similar or corresponding duties of whatever 
nature or under whatever denomination, levied in the name or for 
the profit of the Government, public functionaries, private in- 
dividuals. Corporations, or establishments of any kind, shall be 
imposed in the ports of the dominions and possessions of either 
country upon the vessels of the other country which shall not 
equally and under the same conditions be imposed in the like cases 
on national vessels in general or vessels of the most favoured nation. 
Such equality of treatment shall apply reciprocally to the respective 
vessels, from whatever port or place they may arrive, and whatever 
may be their place of destination. 

Article X. — In all that regards the stationing, loading, and un- 
loading of vessels in the ports, basins, docks, roadsteads, harbours, 
or rivers of the dominions and possessions of the two countries, no 
privilege shall be granted to national vessels which shall not be 
equally granted to vessels of the other country ; the intention 



74 JAPAN 

of the High Contracting Parties being that in this respect also the 
respective vessels shall be treated on the footing of perfect equality. 

Article XI. — The coasting trade of both the High Contracting 
Parties is excepted from the provisions of the present Treaty, and 
shall be regulated according to the Laws, Ordinances, and Regula- 
tions of Japan and of Great Britain respectively. It is, however, 
understood that Japanese subjects in the dominions and possessions 
of Her Britannic Majesty, and British subjects in the dominions 
and possessions of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, shall enjoy 
in this respect the rights which are or may be granted under such 
Laws, Ordinances, and Regulations to the subjects or citizens of 
any other country. 

A Japanese vessel laden in a foreign country with cargo, 
destined for two or moi-e ports in the dominions and possessions of 
Her Britannic Majesty, and a British vessel laden in a foreign 
country with cargo destined for two or more ports in the dominions 
and possessions of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, may dis- 
charge a portion of her cargo at one port, and continue her voyage 
to the other port or ports of destination where foreign trade is 
permitted, for the purpose of landing the remainder of her original 
cargo there, subject always to the Laws and Custom-house Regula- 
tions of the two countries. 

The Japanese Government, however, agrees to allow British 
vessels to continue, as heretofore, for the period of the duration of 
the present Treaty, to carry cargo between the existing open ports 
of the Empire, excepting to or from the ports of Osaka, Niigata 
and Ebisu-minato. 

Article XII. — Any ship of war or merchant- vessel of either of 
the High Contracting Parties which may be compelled by stress of 
weather, or by reason of any other distress, to take shelter in a port 
of the other, shall be at liberty to refit therein, to procure all 
necessary supplies, and to put to sea again, without paying any 
dues other than such as would be payable by national vessels. 
In case, however, the master of a merchant-vessel should be 
under the necessity of disposing of a part of his cargo in order to 
defray the expenses, he shall be boiuid to conform to the Regula- 
tions and Tariffs of the place to which he may have come. 

If any ship of war or merchant-vessel of one of the Contracting 
Parties should run aground or be wrecked upon the coasts of the 
other, the local authorities shall inform the Ct)nsul-General, Consul, 
Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the district of tlie occurrence, 



APPENDIX 75 

or if there be no such Consular officer, they shall inform the 
Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent of the 
nearest district. 

All proceedings relative to the salvage of Japanese vessels 
wrecked or cast on shore in the territorial waters of Her Britannic 
Majesty shall take place in accordance with the Laws, Ordinances, 
and Regulations of Great Britain, and reciprocally, all measures of 
salvage relati^^e to British vessels wrecked or cast on shore in the 
territorial waters of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan shall take 
place in accordance with the Laws, Ordinances, and Regulations of 
Japan. 

Such stranded or wrecked ship or vessel, and all parts thereof, 
and all furnitures and appurtenances belonging theretinto, and all 
goods and merchandise saved therefrom, including those which may 
ha-\'e been cast into the sea, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, as well 
as all papers found on boai'd such stranded or wrecked ship or 
vessel, shall be given up to the owners or their agents, when claimed 
by them. If such owners or agents are not on the spot, the same 
shall be delivered to the respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice- 
Consuls, or Consular Agents upon being claimed by them within 
the period fixed by the laws of the country, and such Consular 
officers, owners, or agents shall pay only the expenses incurred in 
the preservation of the property, together with the salvage or other 
expenses which would have been payable in the case of a wreck of 
a national vessel. 

The goods and merchandise saved from the wreck shall be 
exempt from all the duties of the Customs unless cleared for con- 
sumption, in which case they shall pay the ordinary duties. 

When a ship or vessel belonging to the subjects of one of the 
Contracting Parties is stranded or wrecked in the territories of the 
other, the respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and 
Consular Agents shall be authorised, in case the owner or master, 
or other agent of the owner, is not present, to lend their official 
assistance in order to afford tlie necessary assistance to the subjects 
of the respective States. The same rule shall apply in case the 
owner, master, or other agent is present, but requires such assis- 
tance to be given. 

Article XHL — All vessels which, according to Japanese law, are 
to be deemed Japanese vessels, and all vessels which, according 
to British law, are to be deemed Britisli vessels, shall for the 
purposes of this Treaty be deemed Japanese and British vessels 
respectively. 



76 JAPAN 

Article XIV. — Tlie Consuls-General^ Consuls^ Vice-Consuls, and 
Consular Agents of each of the Contracting Parties, residing in the 
dominions and possessions of the other, shall receive from the local 
authorities such assistance as can by law be given to them for the 
recovery of deserters from the vessels of their respective countries. 

It is understood that this stipulation shall not apply to the 
subjects of the country where the desertion takes place. 

Article XV. — The High Contracting Parties agree that, in all 
that concerns commerce and navigation, any privilege, favour, or 
immunity wliich either Contracting Party has actually granted, or 
may hereafter grant, to the Government, ships, subjects, or citizens 
of any other State, sliall be extended immediately and uncon- 
ditionally to the Government, ships, subjects, or citizens of the 
other Contracting Party, it being their intention that the trade 
and navigation of each country shall be placed, in all respects, by 
the other on the footing of the most favoured nation. 

Article XVI. — Each of the High Contracting Parties may 
appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, Pro-Consuls, and 
Consular Agents in all the ports, cities, and places of the other, 
except in those where it may not be convenient to recognise such 
officers. 

This exception, however, shall not be made in regard to one of 
the Contracting Parties without being made likewise in regard to 
every other Power. 

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, Pro-Consuls, and 
Consular Agents may exercise all functions, and shall enjoy all 
privileges, exemptions, and immunities which are, or may hereafter 
be, granted to Consular officers of the most favoured nation. 

Article XVII. — The subjects of each of the High Contracting 
Parties shall enjoy in the dominions and possessions of the other 
the same protection as native subjects in regard to patents, trade- 
marks, and designs, upon fulfilment of the formalities prescribed 
by law. 

Article XVIII. — Her Britannic Majesty's Government, so far 
as they are concerned, give their consent to the following arrange- 
ment : — 

The several foreign Settlements in Japan sliall be incorporated 
with the respective Japanese Communes, and shall thenceforth form 
part of the general municipal system of Japan. 

The competent Japanese authorities shall thereupon assume all 



APPENDIX 77 

municipal obligations and duties in respect thereof, and the 
common funds and property, if any, belonging to such Settle- 
ments, shall at the same time be transferred to the said Japanese 
authorities. 

When such incorporation takes place the existing leases in 
perpetuity under which property is now held in the said Settle- 
ments shall be confirmed, and no conditions whatsoever other than 
those contained in such existing leases shall be imposed in respect 
of such property. It is, howevei', understood that the Consular 
authorities mentioned in the same are in all cases to be replaced by 
the Jajianese authorities. 

All lands which may pre\'iously have been granted by the 
Japanese Government free of rent for the public purposes of the 
said Settlements shall, subject to the right of eminent domain, be 
permanently reserved free of all taxes and charges for the public 
purjjoses for which they were originally set apart. 

Article XIX. — The stipulations of the present Treaty shall be 
applicable, so far as the laws permit, to all the Colonies and foreign 
possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, excepting to those hereinafter 
named, that is to say, except to India, the Dominion of Canada, 
Newfoundland, The Cape, Natal, New South Wales, Victoria, 
Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Avistralia, New 
Zealand. 

Provided always that the stijjulations of the present Treaty shall 
be made applicable to any of the above-named Colonies or foreign 
possessions on whose behalf notice to that effect shall have been 
given to the Japanese Government by her Britannic Majesty's 
Representative at Tokio within two years from the date of the 
exchange of ratifications of the present Treaty. ^ 

Article XX. — The present Treaty shall, from the date it comes 
into force, be substituted in place of the Conventions respectively 
of the 23rd day of the 8th month of the 7th year of Kayei, corre- 
sponding to the 14th day of October, 1854, and of the 13th day of 
the 5th month of the 2nd year of Keiou, coi-responding to the 25th 
day of June, 1866, the Treaty of the 18th day of the 7th month of 
the 5th year of Ansei, corresponding to the 26th day of August, 
1858, and all Arrangements and Agreements subsidiary thereto 

1 To this Article was attached a note, signed by the Japanese Pleni- 
potentiary, and containing an assuiance that any of the above-mentioned 
British Colonies and foreign possessions, upon acceding to the Treaty, should 
not be bound by the stipulations of Article ii. 



78 JAPAN 

concluded or existing between the High Contracting Parties ; and 
from the same date such Conventions^ Treaty;, Arrangements, and 
Agreements shall cease to be binding, and, in consequence, the 
jurisdiction then exercised by British Courts in Japan, and all the 
exceptional privileges, exemptions, and immunities then enjoyed 
by British subjects as a part of or appurtenant to such juris- 
diction, shall absolutely and without notice cease and determine, 
and thereafter all such jurisdiction shall be assumed and exercised 
by Japanese Courts. 

Article XXI. — The present Treaty shall not take effect until at 
least five years after its signature. It shall come into force one 
year after His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Government shall have 
given notice to Her Britannic Majesty's Government of its wish to 
have the same brought into operation.^ Such notice may be given 
at any time after the expiration of four years from the date hereof. 
The Treaty shall remain in force for the period of twelve years from 
the date it goes into operation. 

Either High Contracting Party shall have the right, at any time 
after eleven years shall have elapsed from the date this Treaty takes 
effect, to give notice to the other of its intention to terminate the 
same, and at the expiration of twelve months after such notice is 
given this Treaty shall wholly cease and determine. 

Article XXII. — The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the 
ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Tokio as soon as possible, 
and not later than six months from the present date. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed 
the same and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. 

Done at London, in dujilicate, this sixteenth day of July, in tlie 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four. 

KIMBP^RLEY. 
AOKL 

^ in a svipplementary note, the Japanese Plenipotentiary gave an assurance 
that the Japanese Government would not issue this notice until those portions 
of the Codes which are at present in abeyance should be brought into actual 
force. 



APPENDIX 7.q 



II.— f*! 



The Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain 
and Ireland and Empress of India^ and the Government of His 
Majesty the Emperor of Japan, deeming it advisable in the 
interests of both countries to regulate certain special matters of 
mutual concern, apart from the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation 
signed this day, have, through their respective Plenipotentiaries, 
agreed upon the following stipulations : — 

1. It is agreed by the Contracting Parties that one month after 
the exchange of the ratifications of the Treaty of Commerce and 
Navigation signed this day, the Import Tariif hereunto annexed,^ 
shall, subject to the provisions of Article xxiii. of the Treaty of 
1858 at present subsisting between the Contracting Parties, as long 
as the said Treaty remains in force and thereafter, subject to the 
provisions of Articles v. and xv. of the Treaty signed this day, be 
applicable to the articles therein enumerated, being the growth, 
produce, or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of Her 
Britannic Majesty upon importation into Japan. But nothing con- 
tained in this Protocol, or the Tariff hereunto annexed, shall be 
held to limit or qualify the right of the Japanese Government to 
restrict or to prohibit the importation of adulterated drugs, 
medicines, food, or beverages ; indecent or obscene prints, paintings, 
books, cards, lithographic or other engravings, photographs, or any 
other indecent or obscene articles ; articles in violation of patent, 
trade-mark, or copyright laws of Japan ; or any other article which 
for sanitary reasons, or in view of public security or morals, might 
offer any danger. 

The ad valorem duties established by the said Tariff shall, so far 
as may be deemed practicable, be converted into specific duties by 
a Supplementary Convention, which shall be concluded between the 
two Governments within six months from the date of this Protocol ; 
the medium prices, as shown by the Japanese Customs Returns 
during the six calendar months preceding the date of the present 
Protocol, with the addition of the cost of insurance and trans- 
portation from the place of purchase, production, or fabrication, to 
the port of discharge, as well as commission, if any, shall be taken 
as the basis for such conversion. In the event of the Supplementary 
Convention not having come into force before the expiration of the 

1 This Tariff was printed as an annex to the Protocol, but is not here 
reproduced. 



80 JAPAN 

period fixed for the said Tariff to take effect^ ad valorem duties in 
conformity with the rule recited at the end of the said Tariff shall, 
in the meantime, be levied. 

In respect of articles not enumerated in the said Tariff, the 
General Statutory Tariff of Japan for the time being in force shall, 
from the same time, apply, subject, as aforesaid, to the provisions 
of Article xxiii. of the Treaty of 1858 and Articles v. and xv. of the 
Treaty signed this day respectively. 

From the date the Tariffs aforesaid take effect, the Import Tariff 
now in operation in Japan in respect of goods and merchandise im- 
ported into Japan by British subjects shall cease to be binding. 

In all other respects the stipulations of the existing Treaties and 
Conventions shall be maintained unconditionally until the time 
when the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day comes 
into force. 

2. The Japanese Government, pending the opening of the country 
to British subjects, agrees to extend the existing passport system in 
such a manner as to allow British subjects, on the production 
of a certificate of recommendation from the British Representative 
in Tokio, or from any of Her Majesty's Consuls at the open ports in 
Japan, to obtain upon application passports available for any part 
of the country, and for any period not exceeding twelve months, 
from the Imperial Japanese Foreign OiRce in Tokio, or from the 
chief authorities in the Prefecture in which an open port is 
situated ; it being understood that the existing Rules and Regula- 
tions governing British subjects who visit the interior of the Empire 
are to be maintained. 

3. The Japanese Government undertakes, before the cessation 
of British Consular jurisdiction in Japan, to join the International 
Conventions for the Protection of Industrial Property and Copy- 
right. 

4. It is understood between the two High Contracting Parties 
that, if Japan think it necessarj'^ at any time to levy an additional 
duty on the production or manufacture of refined sugar in Japan, 
an increased customs duty equivalent in amount may be levied on 
British refined sugar when imported into Japan, so long as such 
additional excise tax or inland duty continues to be raised. 

Provided always that British refined sugar shall in this respect be 
entitled to the treatment accorded to refined sugar being the pro- 
duce or manufacture of the most favoured nation. 

5. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed that this 
Protocol shall be submitted to the two High Contracting Parties at 



APPENDIX 81 

the same time as the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed 
this day, and that when the said Treaty is ratified the agreements 
contained in the Protocol shall also equally be considered as 
approved, without the necessity of a further formal ratification. 

It is also agreed that this Protocol shall terminate at the same 
time the said Treaty ceases to be binding. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed 
the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. 

Done at London, in duplicate, this sixteenth day of July, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four. 

KIMBERLEY. 
AOKI. 



KOREA 

' L'Orient ! L'Orient ! qu'y voyez-vous, iDoetes ? 

Tournez vers I'Orient vos esprits et vos yeux ! 
Helas ! ont repondu leurs voix longtemps muettes, 

Nous voyons bien la-bas un jour mysterieux.' 

Victor Hugo : Chants de Crepuscule. 



CHAPTER IV 

LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 

Where upon Apennine sloj)es with the chestniit the oak-trees immmgle, 
AVhere amid odorous copse bridle-paths wander and wind, 
• Where under mulberry -branches the diligent rivulet sf)arkles, 
Or amid cotton and maize peasants their water-works jjly. 

A. H. Clough : Amours de Voyage. 

From the best known and most visited I pass to the least 
known and least visited of the countries of the Far East. 

The name of Korea ^ is one that, until the recent ^, ^ . 

I he fasci- 

war, was still wrapped in so much mystery to the nation of 
bulk of Englishmen at home, and the phenomena 
that it presented were at once so interesting, and, for so 
weak and ill-developed a country, so relatively important, 
that there were but few places at that time appealing more 
strongly to the traveller's thirst for the novel. The spectacle 
of a country possessing an historical antiquity, contempo- 
raneous, as alleged, with that of Thebes and Babylon,^ but 
owning no ruins ; boasting a separate, if not an independent 
national existence for centuries, and yet devoid of all external 
symptoms of strength ; retaining latest of all the kingdoms 

^ The name Korea, the veritable form of which is Kori or Koryo (Chinese 
Kaoli, Japanese Korai), was originally the name of one of the three sovereign- 
ties into which, before its union, the peninsula was divided. The Portuguese 
transferred this name to the whole country, and called it Coria. Later, the 
French Jesuits called it, in French, La Coree ; whence has arisen the 
ignorant and detestable habit of speaking of 'The Korea.' The native and 
official name of the country since 1392 a.d. is Chosen [lit. Tsio-sien, Chinese 
Chao-sien), i.e. 'Freshness, or serenity, of the morning.' 

2 The Koreans claim as their first king Ki Tsze, who emigrated from China, 
and founded a dynasty at Pvong-yang in 1122 b.c. 

85 



86 KOREA 

of the East the title to successful exclusion of the foreigner^ 
and yet animated by no real hostility to aliens ; containing 
beautiful natural scenery still virgin to the traveller's foot ; 
claiming to have given to Japan her letters^ her science, her 
religion, and her art, and yet bereft of almost all vestiges of 
these herself; inhabited by a people of physical vigour but 
moral inertness ; well-endowed with resources, yet crippled 
for want of funds — such a spectacle is one to which I know 
no counterpart even in Asia, the continent of contrasts, and 
which from a distance had long and powerfully affected my 
imagination. A bridge between Japan and China, Korea is 
nevertheless profoundly unlike either. It has lacked the 
virile training of the Feudal System in Japan, and the 
incentives to industry supplied by the crowded existence of 
China. Its indifference to religion has left it without the 
splendid temples that adorn the former country, without the 
stubborn self-sufficiency of character developed by Confucian- 
ism in the latter. Japan swept it clear of all that was 
beautiful or ancient in the famous invasion of Hideyoshi (or 
Fidejosi, commonly called Taikosama) three centuries ago — 
an affliction from which it has never recovered. China's 
policy, until interrupted by recent events, has been to keep it 
in a state of tutelage ever since. Placed in an unfortunate 
geographical position midway between the two nations, 
Korea has been, like Issachar, the strong ass couching 
between two burdens. Suddenly, at the end of the nine- 
teenth century, it wakes up from its long sleep to find the 
alarum of the nations sounding at its gates ; the plenipoten- 
tiaries of great Powers appear in its ports to solicit or to 
demand recipi'ocal treaties ; it enters the comity of civilised 
peoples ; and, still half stupefied by its long repose, relaxes 
but slowly beneath the doubtful rays of Western civilisation. 
In the examination of this country and its people, the 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 87 

traveller or student has not the advantage, open to him in 

most other parts of the world, of an adequate literature 

composed by competent writers. Owing to the long and 

absolute seclusion of Korea, no foreigners beyond ^ . 

° -^ Literature 

a few heroic Roman Catholic missionaries, who, in of the 

the latter part at any rate of their sojourn, carried ^ J ^ • 
their lives in their hands, had penetrated into the interior of 
the peninsula or become domiciled there, anterior to the first 
opening of the country twenty years ago.^ A French com- 
pilation by Pere Dallet, in whose hands were placed the 
materials thus acquired, appeared in 1874, and has almost 
ever since provided the substance of European knowledge 
about Korea, of whose people, and institutions, and life, it 
presents a minute and absorbing picture ;2 although, being 
based upon documents extending over the previous half- 
century, it relates to a time and describes customs which have 

1 The single notable exception was Hendrik Hamel, a Dutchman, and 
supercargo of the ship /S29erfcer, or 'Sparrow-hawk,' who was wrecked, with 
thirty -five of the crew (including a Scotchman, John Bosket), upon the island 
of Quelpart, while making for the Dutch factory at Nagasaki, in 1653. They 
were conveyed to Soul in 1654, and were imprisoned in different parts of the 
country till 1666, when a few of the survivors succeeded in making their 
escajje by sea to the island of Goto, and thence to Jaj)an. Hamel wrote an 
account of their experiences, which was first published in 1668, at Rotterdam, 
and was then translated into French and English, and included in Astley's, 
Pinkerton's, and Churchill's Collections of Voyages. For a long time doubt 
was cast upon its authenticity ; but, though the author was a man of no great 
education, and might have told us much more, his narrative, such as it is, has 
been amply confirmed by later knowledge, and is highly interesting. It is 
curious that, when Hamel's party were wrecked, there was already in Soul 
another Dutchman, Jan Janssoia Weltervree, who, with two of his fellow- 
countrymen, had been ke23t jirisoners by the Koreans since 1627, when they 
had been sent ashore from the Jacht Oudekerke, to get water and provisions. 
Not even these, however, were the first Europeans to set foot iii Korea. 
This distinction belongs to a Portuguese Jesuit, Gregorio de Ces]3edes, who 
was sent over by Hideyoshi, in 1594, as chaplaiii to his second exiDedition 
against Korea, which was commanded by a Jaj^anese Christian, Dom 
Augustin Konishi Yukinaga, and contained many Christians in its ranks. 
The only relics of the Dutch captives that have, so far, been discovered were 
two Dutch vessels, unearthed at Soul in 1886. 

2 Histoire de VEglise de Coree. 2 vols. Paris, 1874. 



88 KOREA 

now passed out of recollection or have ceased to prevail ; 
whilst, being compiled by a writer who had not himself set 
foot in Korea, it lacks the advantage of first-hand editorial 
revision. Since 1876, the date of the first Treaty, the two 
most useful works on the country have also been the pro- 
ductions of authors who have never set foot within its borders. 
The Het'tnit Nation, by Mr. W. E. Griffis, an American, is 
a scholarly compilation of its past history, mainly fi'om 
Japanese sources, and a careful, though frequently obsolete 
description of its habits and customs. The other work, by a 
Scotch Presbyterian missionary. Rev. J. Ross, who lived long 
at Newchwang, is also in the main historical.^ The narratives 
of the few foreign travellers who have explored the country 
since its opening are as a rule scattered in the journals of 
Geographical Societies, in Government reports, or in publica- 
tions neither easily accessible nor generally known. By 
far the most meritorious of these, and, within a narrow 
space, the most vivid and accurate account of Korean life 
life and character that I have seen, is a report written by 
Mr. C. W. Campbell, of the British Consular Service, and 
printed as a Parliamentary paper in 1891.^ The earlier 
work by one of his predecessors, Mr. W. R. Carles, contains 
much interesting information, but is on the whole dis- 
appointing.^ Much more so is the rhapsodical production 
of an American writer, Mr. P. Lowell.* The recent war 
gave birth to a plentiful crop of literature dealing with the 
country. But of this much was second-hand and the greater 
part ephemeral. 

The foreign visitor to Korea will naturally first land upon 
its shores at one of the three Treaty Ports of Fusan, Gensan, 
and Chemulpo. As I visited and stayed at each of these, 

1 History of Corea, Ancient and Modern. Paisley, 1880. 

2 China. No. 2. (1891). s Life in Korea. London, 1888. 
^ Chosen, The Land of the Morning Calm. London, 1886. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 89 

I may append a paragraph upon theirj characteristics. 
Fusan is upon the south-east coast^ opposite to and 
within sight of the Japanese islands of Tsushima jj^^ Treaty 
(The Twins). Gensan is upon the east coast^ Ports. 
about half-way between Fusan and Vladivostok, Chemulpo 
is upon the west coast, and is the port of the capital, Soul. 
A greater variation can hardly be imagined than between 




PORT AND JAPANESE SETTLEMENT OF FUSAN 

the eastern and western shores of the peninsula. The 
former are mountainous, the spurs of the Korean Apennines 
reaching down in many places to the water's edge, and are 
pierced by a few fine harboui-s, in which thei*e is but a 
weak tide, and which are open all the year round. On the 
west coast, which is laved by the Yellow Sea of China, 
there are, on the contrary, only shallow and tortuous inlets, 
shielded by an archipelago of islands, and either filled or 



90 KOREA 

bared by a tide that rises from 25 to 40 feet, and is 

frequently frozen in winter. 

The harbours of Fusan and Gensan are ahke in being 

situated at the bottom of deep and sheltered bays, which 

could provide anchorage for immense armadas, 
Fusan. , 7 , f 

and which are visited by a yearly increasing 

mercantile marine, flying the Japanese, the Chinese, and 
the Russian flags. Fusan,^ as the port nearest to Japan, 
has retained for centuries a more than nominal connection 
with the neighbouring Power, having been from early times 
a fief of the daimio or lord of Tsushima,^ until, in 1876, it 
became a trading port constituted by treaty between the 
two Powers. A flourishing Japanese community containing 
over 5000 Japanese subjects (exclusive of a floating popula- 
tion of 6000 Japanese fishermen) is the modern heir of the 
former military and trading colony, and is settled round the 
base of a knoll, crowned with a clump of cryptomerias — 
an obvious importation from over the sea — and with two 
dilapidated Japanese temples, just opposite to the large 



1 Fusan is the Japanese, Piisan the Korean name, signifying pot or kettle 
mountain, presumably from the outline of the knoll upon the shore. 

2 It was in the year 1443 that, by an agreement between the Prince of 
Tsushima and the Prefect of Tongnai (near Fusan), the first Japanese 
settlement was made at the latter port. The tribute-embassies from Korea 
to Japan always sailed from Fusaii when starting for the Shogun's court at 
Kamakura, and there also landed the two successive invading armies of 
Hideyoshi, in 1592 and 1593. Even after the evacuation of the country 
by the Japanese, it remained in their hands, a garrison of 300 men being 
permanently quartered there behind a stockade, the only Japanese colony 
in the world ; until, after the Revolution in 1868, it passed, with the other 
feudal properties of Japan, into the hands of the Mikado. Its formal 
oj)ening as a Treaty Port in 1876 was a recognition of the resumption of 
Korean ownership, although the Jajjanese settlement, for which a nominal 
head-rent of $50 is supposed to be paid, remains practically a Japanese 
possession, being administered by the Japanese Consul, and a municij)al 
council. In 1894 part of the Japanese expeditionary force landed at Fusan, 
but was recalled, before proceeding far into the interior, there being no 
necessity for a southern advance. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 



91 



hilly island called by the Europeans Deer Island, which 
shelters the southern side of the bay.i A little to the 
north of this town is a new Chinese settlement, the latter 
people having recently broken ground in Fusan, though 
handicapped as yet by the superior start and numbers of 
their rivals. Northward again is the original Japanese 
settlement, known as Kuk-wan ; while a little beyond lies 




GATE OF NATIVE TOWN, FUSAN 



the Korean town surrounded by a stone wall and possessing 
the ruins of a castle, outside whose gates are a squalid 
native hamlet and bazaar. The background is formed by 
wild and desolate hills, with a thin fringe of firs bristling 
on the skyline, and bright red terraces of cultivated soil 
below. 

^ The Koreans call this island Tetsuye, the Isle of Enchanting View, or 
Maki, the Isle of Green Pastures (because it was linvb^aTos, or a horse- 
rearing place). 



^2 KOREA 

Gensan ^ is situated in the southern hollow of the remark- 
able inlet in the eastern coast, called, from the British 
navigator who first surveyed it in 1797, Broughton 

ensan. g^y 2 j^ deeper, and even finer indentation of 
the same bay, sheltered by the NakimoiF peninsula, is the 
well-known Port LazarefF, first surveyed and named by the 
Russians in 1854, and ever since believed to have been 
regarded by that people, from their ice-bound quarters at 
Vladivostok,^ with a more than envious eye. The entire 
bay is fourteen miles in length, from two to six in width, 
and has a depth of from six to twelve fathoms. Seawards 
its entrance is masked by an archipelago of islets. As we 
steam up the bay, the Japanese settlement founded in 1879^ 
and now containing over 700 colonists, may be seen clustered 
at the base of a hill upon the right. Some mile and a half 
to the south, and a little way inland, a cloud of smoke 
indicates the situation of the native town, which contains 
13,000 inhabitants. Wooded hills frame a picturesque back- 
ground, and vapour-caps hide the mountains inland. A less 
vigorous trade is here conducted by both Japanese and 
Chinese (the latter having only recently entered the field) 
with the northern provinces, the populous towns in which 
are more easily reached from the western coast, and will 
ultimately be more naturally served from the river-port of 
Pyong-yang (or Ping-yang), as soon as the latter is opened 
to foreign commerce, or as the Korean coasting marine be- 
comes equal to its supply. 

1 Gensan is the Japanese, Yuensan the Chinese, and Wonsan the Korean 
version of the name ; the difference arising from the different pronunciation 
by the three peoples of the same Chinese ideographs. 

2 Vide Captain W. R. Broughton's Voyage of Discovery to the North 
Pacific Ocean. London, 1804. 

3 During 1893 an attempt was made with a steam ice-crusher to keep the 
harbour of Vladivostok open the whole year round ; but only met with 
qiialified success. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOEEA 



93 



Chemulpo ^ has few natural aptitudes as a port beyond its 
situation on the estuary of the southern branch of the river 
Han, or Han-kiang, upon which stands the Korean 
capital, and its consequent proximity to the main 
centre of population. The river journey is fifty-four miles 
in length to Mapu, the landing-place for Soul, which lies 



Chemulpo. 




PORT OF CHEMULPO 

three miles farther on. The land-march to Soul is an 
uninviting stretch of twenty-six miles. In 1883, when 
Chemulpo was first opened to foreign trade, there was only 
a fishing hamlet with fifteen Korean huts on the site, where 
now may be seen a prosperous town containing over 3000 
foreigners, of whom 2500 are Japanese, 600 Chinamen, and 
over twenty Europeans, as well as a native population of 

1 Chemulpo (signifying 'Various-articles-river-bank') is the name of the 
settlement formerly known and spoken of in the Treaties, from the name of 
the nearest magistracy, five miles away, as Japanese Jinsen or Ninsen, 
Chinese Jenchuan, Korean Inchiun or Inchon, signifying 'Benevolent streams.' 



94 KOREA 

about equal numbers. Thei'e are a European club^ several 

billiard-saloons and restaurants, and some excellent Chinese 

stores. The outer anchorage is some two miles from the 

shore, for the tide runs out here for miles (with a rise and 

fall of 25 to 30 feet), leaving an exposed waste of mud-flats 

and a narrow channel, in which steamers of light draught 

rest upon the ooze. The busy streets and harbour are 

indications of a rapidly-advancing trade, which promises 

further expansion in the near future. 

The first glimpse of the Korean coast, at or near any of 

these ports, which is mountainous, but little wooded, and 

relatively bare, gives no idea of the timbered 
The -^ ' ^ 

Korean heights and smiling valleys which may be en- 

psop ^- countered in the interior ; but the first sight of 

its white-robed people, whose figures, if stationary, might be 

mistaken at a distance for white mileposts or tombstones, it 

^^ moving, for a colony of swans, acquaints us wth a national 

-T type and dress that are quite unique. A ,clirty people who 

insist upon dressing in white is a first peculiarity ; a people 

inhabiting a northern, and in winter a very rigorous latitude, 

who yet insist upon wearing cotton (even though it be 

wadded in winter) all the year round, is a second ; a people 

who always wear hats, and have a headpiece accommodated 

to every situation and almost every incident in life, is a third. 

But all these combine to make the wearers picturesque ; 

while as to Korean standards of comfort we have nothing to 

do but to wonder. As to their physique, the men are 

stalwart, well-built, and bear themselves with a manly air, 

though of docile and sometimes timid expression. The hair 

is worn long, but is twisted into a topknot, protected by the 

crown of the aforementioned hat.^ The women, of whom 

1 This is the old Chinese fashion under the Mings,which was copied, with other 
Chinese habits, in Korea, but which was abolished by the Manchus in China. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 95 

those belonging to the upper classes are not visible, but the 
poorer among whom may be seen by hundreds engaged in 
manual labour in the houses, streets and fields, cannot be 
described as beautiful. They have a peculiar arrangement 
of dress by which a short white bodice covers the shoulders, 
but leaves the breasts entirely exposed ; while voluminous 
petticoats, very full at the hips, depend from a waist just 
below the armpits, and all but conceal coarse white or brown 




KOREAN SCHOOLMASTER AND BOYS 

pantaloons below. Their hair is black, and is wound in a 
big coil round the temples, supplying a welcome contrast to 
the greasy though fascinating coiffure of the females of Japan. 
Indeed, if the men of the two nations are unlike — the tall, 
robust, good-looking, idle Korean, and the diminutive, ugly, 
nimble, indomitable Japanese — still more so are the women 
— the hard-visaged, strong-limbed, masterful housewife of 
Korea, and the shuffling, knock-kneed, laughing, bewitchino- 
Japanese damsel. The Korean boy, indeed, might more 



96 KOREA 

easily be taken to represent the gentler sex, since, until he 
is engaged to be married, he wears his hair parted in the 
middle and hanging in a long plait down his back. 

Of this people, the males among whom exceed the females, 
there are believed to be about 11,000,000 in Korea, an area 
very similar in extent to Greab Britain. ^ I give 
! . this total as a mean, possessing a probable approxi- 
mation to truth, between the two extremes of 
7,000,000 and 28,000,000, both of which have figured in 
recent publications,^ and which illustrate the prevailing 
ignorance about a country and a population that have not as 
yet passed through the mill of the statistician. Marrying at 
an early age, prone to large families, and undiminished for 
many years by war or famine, the Korean population ought 
to be on the increase were it not that the infant mortality 
is enormous, and that the death-rate from epidemics, against 
which no precautions are taken, and which sweep over the 
country every third or fourth year, is certainly high. On 
the other hand, the large tracts of uncultivated and almost 
uninhabited country that still await the ploughshare and the 
peasant will accommodate an expansion that cannot fail to 
disappoint the Malthusian enthusiast for many years to 
come. 

The Koreans belong unmistakably to the Mongolian stock, 

1 The best estimate appears to be 80,000-90,000 square miles. But some 
place it as high as 100,000-120,000. 

2 Ev^que Daveluy, in 1847, gave 3,598,880 males, 3,745,481 females ; total 
7,344,361. Oppert, in 1867, gave 15,000,000-16,000,000. Pere Dallet, in 
1874, gave 10,000,000. Japanese statistics, in 1881, gave 16,227,885. Griffis, 
in 1882, gave 12,000,000. Sir H. Parkes, in 1883, gave 8,000,000-10,000,000. 
An obviously supposititious census, in 1884, is quoted as having given 
28,007,401. The latest Government census, cited in the Statesman's Year- 
Booh, is 10,528,937. Varat, the most recent foreign writer, names 16,000,000- 
18,000,000. On the other hand, the Chinese figures, in a work entitled 
Important Facts relating to the Eastern Stockade, are 3,310,704 males, 
3,259,401 females ; total 6,570,105. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA y? 

occupying a sort of intermediate stage between the Mongo- 
lian Tartar and. the Japanese. It is impossible to confound 

them either with the latter or with the Chinese ; ^ , , 

Ethnology 

and a Korean would, to any one who has travelled and 
in the country, be a known man in any city in the "^ 

world. It has been supposed by some writers, who have ob- 
served a different variety with blue eyes and fair hair in Korea 
itself, that there is also a Caucasian element in the stock ; but 
I am not aware that this hypothesis has found any scientific 
confirmation.^ Their language is of the Turanian family, 
with the addition of many Chinese words ; and they may be 
said to possess two syllabaries or alphabets — the Nido or 
Korean syllabary, which gives a phonetic value to some 250 
Chinese ideographs in common use, and which was invented 
by Syel Chong, a famous scholar and priest, 1100 years ago ; 
and the popular Korean alphabet, or script, which was first 
promulgated by royal decree in 1447 a.d., and is still used 
by the lower orders.^ If one does not either speak or under- 
stand Korean oneself, it is always possible to communicate 
with a Korean by using the Chinese symbols, which he 
equally employs. On the other hand, among the upper and 
lettered classes, Chinese itself is the invariable vehicle both 
of speech and correspondence, just as it is also the official 
language employed in Government publications, proclama- 
tions, examinations, and decrees. 

Of the people so constituted there appears to be but 
one opinion as to the national character and physique. 
While an invigorating climate has made them naturally 

1 May it not, ijerhaps, be attributable to the twelve years' residence in 
Korea of the Dutchman Hamel and his companions, two centuries ago ? 

2 The most interesting evidence of the early develo23meut of Korea is Sir E. 
Satow's demonstration that the Koreans jjrinted from movable metallic types 
two centuries before they were known in Europe. He possesses a Korean 
reprint of the Chinese Confucian Table-Talk, which was printed in 1317 a.d. 
in this fashion. 

G 



98 KOREA 

long-lived and strong, their habits of life and morals ^ have 

rendered them subject to many forms of ailment and disease ; 

while their want of contact with the world and 

National \}iQ[y servitude to a form of government which 
character. ° 

has never either encouraged or admitted of 

individual enterprise, but which has reduced all except the 

privileged class to a dead level of uncomplaining poverty, 

have left them inert, listless, and apathetic. As individuals 

they possess many attractive characteristics — -the upper 

classes being polite, cultivated, friendly to foreigners, and 

priding themselves on correct deportment ; while the lower 

orders are good-tempered, though very excitable, cheerful^ 

and talkative. Beyond a certain point, however, both 

classes relapse into a similar indifference, which takes 

the form of an indolent protest against action of any kind. 

The politician in Soul remains civil, but is wholly deaf 

to persuasion. The coolie works one day and dawdles 

away his wages upon the two next. The mapu, or ostler, 

takes his own time about his own and his pack-pony's meals, 

and no reasoning or compulsion in the world would disturb 

him from his complacent languor. These idiosyncrasies may 

only be interesting to the unconcerned student of national 

character, but they are of capital importance in their bearing 

upon national life. When, further, they ai-e crystallised into 

hardness and ai-e inflamed by the habits of an upper and 

official class — which subsists by extortion, and prohibits, 

outside its own limits, either the exercise of surplus activity 

or the accumulation of wealth — they explain how it is that 

the Korean people remain poor amid stores of unprobed 

wealth, lethargic where thei'e should otherwise be a hundred 

^ Polygamy may be said to prevail ) for Whilst most Koreans only have 
one wife, they keep as many concubines as their circumstances i^ermit. 
Among the lower orders there is neither cleanliness nor decency, and many 
vices prevail. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 



99 



incentives to diligence, nerveless in the face either of com- 
petition or of peril. I have seen a Korean coolie carrying a 
weight that would make the stoutest ox stagger, and yet I 
have seen three Koreans lazily employed in turning up the 
soil with a single shovel, by an arrangement of ropes that 
wasted the labour of three men without augmenting the 
strength of one. 




A KOREAN MAGISTKACY 

So it is in every department of the national existence. 

An immense reserve of masculine force is diverted from the 

field of labour and is lost to the nation bv beinff 

•^ ^ The 

absorbed into the ijamens, or offices of the local extremes 

magistrates and prefects, where their function, °f society. 

instead of invigorating the blood of the country, is to suck 

that of their fellow-countrymen.^ The population of Korea 

1 Mr. Carles, in one of his Reports (Corea, No. 2, 1885), mentioned the 
province of Pyong-an-do as having 44 magistracies, with an average of 400 
official hangers-on in each, having nothing to do bnt to police the district and 
to collect taxes — in all, a total of 17,000 men. 



100 KOREA 

may, indeed, be roughly divided into two classes — the upper 
or official, entitled yanghaji} whose position or gentility is a 
bar to work, and who, therefore, must subsist upon others ; 
and the great residuum, whose business it is to be subsisted 
upon, and to filch from the produce of their labour the 
slender necessities of existence for themselves. Poverty in 
the sense of destitution there is not ; but poverty in the 
sense of having no surplus beyond the bare means of livelihood 
and of the paralysis of all enterprise is almost universal. 
Any less indolent people might be expected to rebel ; and 
occasional magisterial encroachments beyond the limits of 
practice or endurance result in short-lived spasms of mutiny, 
in the course of which an offending official is seized and, 
perhaps (as happened once in 1891) is burned alive. But 
ordinarily this implies too great an exertion; the people 
are unarmed and very helpless, and the system is mutely 
acquiesced in, unless pushed to intolerable extremes. 

For travelling in the interior of Korea it is advisable to 
invoke some sort of official assistance. Otherwise the poverty 

1 Literally Nyang-pan, or Two Orders (civil and military), who constitute 
the aristocracy of birth, descending from an aristocracy of office. Mr. 
Camjibell, in his Report, gives the best account of them: — 'The nyang-pan 
enjoys many of the usual privileges of nobility. He is exemjjtiifiiiiiirrest, 
except by command of theTting or the governor of the province in which he 
resides, and then he is n^ liable to personal punishment, except-for the 
graxest^crimes, such as treason or extortion. He wields an autocratic sway 
over the inmates of his house, and has full license to resent any real or 
fancied insult levelled at him by the ha-in, i.e. ' low men,' the proletariat, 
just as he pleases. At the same time, the nyang-pan lies under one great 
obligation, noblcsse-obligj; ; he carmot— perform any menial work, or engage 
in any trade or industrijil^occiipation. Outside the public service, teaching 
is the drdyT-Oxm of employment open to him. If he seeks any other, he 
sinks irrevocably to the level of his occupation. There is no law-laid^down 
, on the f)oint. The penalty is enforced socially, and is i^art of the unwritTeii 
code of nyang-pan etiquette. These privileges and obligations have naturally 
influenced the character of the class, so that the officeless nyang-pan, no 
matter how poor, is proud and punctilious as a Spanish hidalgo, not above 
negotiating a loan with the most shameless effrontery, yet keen to resent the 
slightest shade of disresi^ect from an inferior.' 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 101 

of the country renders it difficult in parts for the stranger 

to procure either beasts of burden, lodging, or food. The 

Foi'eign Office at Soul issues a document known 

as a kuan-choiv, which authorises the bearer to ecessi les 
' 01 travel. 

employ Government couriers and ponies, and to 

put up at Government inns and yamens, and which calls for 

fodder, chickens, and torches at night, to be forthcoming. 

The natives frequently endeavour to circumvent this order 

by hiding away everything in their possession, and protesting 

the entire nakedness of the land. Its production at a 

magistracy is consequently very often necessary, since it is an 

imperative mandate to the local official to bestir himself in 

the interests of the bearer, who may otherwise report his 

indifference at Soul. Without a kuan-chow I might never 

have started from Gensan, where there was a conspiracy 

among the owners of ponies to refuse all their animals, 

except at preposterous rates, that was only overcome after a 

two days' delay and a somewhat stormy interview, kuan-chow 

in hand, with the locum tenois at the local yamen. 

Travel in the heart of a country brings the stranger into 

contaeb with a type of humanity more primitive, but also 

more representative of the national character, 

^ Visit to the 

than that encountered in the capital or in large Diamond 

cities, whilst it also discloses features of natural ' °^^^ ^"^^" 
scenery of which the residents in towns or the frequenters of 
high routes alone may remain permanently ignorant. Both 
these advantages were derivable from the circuitous joui'ney 
which I took from Gensan to the capital. The familiar 
route between these places is 550 li, or 170 miles, in length, 
and, with the exception of one splendid mountain-crossing, 
traverses a landscape never without interest, though lacking 
in the higher elements of grandeur or romance. A diver- 
gence, however, of a few days from the track brought 



102 KOREA 

me into a region which less than half-a-dozen Europeans 
have yet visited, and which contains some of the most 
renowned sceneiy in Korea, as well as the picturesque and 
venerable relics of the disestablished Buddhist religion, which 
for 1000 years before the foundation of the present dynasty, 
in about 1400 a.d., was the official and popular cult of the 




KEUM KANG SAN, OB DIAMOND MOUNTAINS 

country. This region is known as the Keum Kang San, or 
Diamond Mountains ; and there — amid mountain valleys and 
recesses whose superb forest mantle rivals in amplitude, while 
it excels in autumnal tints of maple and chestnut, the garniture 
of Californian caiions, where rushing, crystal-clear torrents 
dance through every glen, and far skywards bare splintered 
crags lift their horns above the foliage — are scattered a 
number of monasteries, whose buildings are in some cases 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 103 

many centuries old^ and whose dwindling congregation of 
inmates perform in these secluded retreats, secure from any 
intrusion save that of the itinerant pilgrim, the stereotyped 
devotions before gilded images of Buddha and his disciples, 
in which they themselves, in common with the mass of their 
countrymen, have long ceased to believe. By lovers of the 
picturesque nothing more enchanting than these monastic 
retreats can anywhere be found ; nor will the discovery 
that, while every prospect pleases, man alone is vile — even 
though his depravity assume, as is credibly alleged of the 
Korean bonzes, the most profligate expression, or, as it did 
in my own experience, the more modest form of larceny of 
one's personal effects — deter the traveller from keen ap- 
preciation of surroundings so romantic. 

Surprise may be felt that in a country where the cloister 
is so generally and not unjustly despised, it should yet 
succeed, in spite of popular scepticism and official 
neglect, in attracting to itself a sufficient number j^Q^j^g 
of recruits. The answer lies in the incurable 
laziness of the people. The monks, who do but little in the 
way of manual labour, beyond occasionally tilling the plots 
of ground attached to the monasteries, or making sandals, 
subsist in the main upon the charity of others — an occupation 
in which the Korean finds an enchantment that personal 
exertion can never supply. Hither, therefore, retire those 
who have nothing to do, or still more, who want to do 
nothing ; bachelors who cannot marry or widowers who do 
not want to marry again ; children of whom their families 
want to get quit, or who want to get quit of their families ; 
sometimes fugitives from justice to whom the Buddhist 
monastery is like the Jewish City of Refuge ; perhaps, here 
and there, though not once in a hundred times, an individual 
who desires to forsake the world, and to surrender himself 



104 



KOREA 



wholly to study and devotion. Hither also comes the Korean 
sight-seer^ the local equivalent to the English Bank Holiday 
young man on a bicycle — a character very common among 
the Koreans, who cultivate a keen eye for scenery, and 
who love nothing better than a kukyeng, or pleasure-trip in 
the country, where they can shirk all business and dawdle 
along as the humour seizes them ; living upon and, where 
possible, abusing the hospitality of others, and halting as 




MONASTERY OF CHANG AN SA IN THE . DIAMOND MOUNTAINS 



they mount each successive crest, and a new outlook opens 
before them, to expatiate upon its beauty, to deposit a stone 
or hang up a rag in the little wayside shrine erected to 
the local genius or deity, and, if they be sufficiently educated, 
either to quote the rhapsodies of some previous poet or to 
compose a stanza themselves. How deeply ingrained in the 
people is this semi-aesthetic, semi-superstitious nature-worship 
may be illustrated by the case of Paik-tu-San (White Peak 
Mountain), the celebrated mountain on the northern frontier, 
with its gleaming white crown, and with the unfathomed 
lake in the hollow of its crater. Every year an official 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 105 

deputation starts forth from Hamheung^ the nearest seat 
of provincial government, and when it arrives at a point 
beyond Unchong, near the Yalu River, from whence the first 
view of the sacred crest is obtained, makes genuflexions, 
lays out its offerings, and retires. That the monasteries 
have for long been visited far more for pleasure's sake 
than for duty is also evident from the remark of Hamel 
240 yeai'S ago : — 

' The Nobles frequent the Monasteries very much to divert them- 
selves there with common Women or others they carry with them, 
because they are generally deliciously seated, and very pleasant 
for Prospect and fine Gardens. So that they might better be "I'tJiA? 

called Pleas ure-houses _j}i>"'ii Tpmplps^ which is to be iiuderstood p^''^'|y 
of the common monasteries, where the religious men love to drink ^.jf^^^C^-c, l'^ 

e^v^/ ■ 

A full night's sleep is not easy of attainment in a Korean 
monastery, even though one's bed be spread on the floor of '■^^^^'^'^ 

one of the sacred halls, and at the foot, as often ,, 

•" ' Monastic 

happens, of the high altar. Before the first life and 
glimmer of dawn some pious monk, anxious to 
anticipate his fellows, begins to walk roimd the courts, 
tapping a drum, and singing the most lugubrious and dis- 
cordant of chants. Then somebody else begins to clap, clap, 
upon a brass gong. Next the big drum on the platform 
over the entrance is beaten to a frantic tune ; and finally 
every bell, gong, and drum in the establishment are set 
going at once. This is the common experience of all who 
sojourn in Buddhist monasteries, where a scrupulous ad- 
herence to ritual prevails, and where the outside of the cup 
and platter is much more thought of than the character of 
the inward parts. 

The internal arrangements of these monasteries, of which 
there are said to be nearly forty, along with a few nunneries. 



^(7C6^»A-e^wir)V 



106 



KOREA 



Buildings. 



in the Diamond Mountains^^ and of which I also visited 
the chief or metropolitan monastery of Sak Wang Sa, 
about twenty miles from Gensan, are com- 
monly the same. Adjoining^ sometimes over, the 
entrance, is a roofed platform or tei*race, the pillars and 
sides of which are thickly hung with the votive or sub- 
scription tablets of former pilgrims. Here is usually placed 




ABBOT OF A KOREAN MONASTERY 

a gigantic drum, reposing upon the back of a painted 
wooden monster. Hard by a big bronze bell hangs behind 
a grille. The central court, into which one first enters, 
contains the principal shrine or temple, usually at the 
upper end, and subsidiary shrines or guest-chambers on 
either side. All are of the same pattern — low detached 

1 The accompanying photographs of scenery iii the Keixm Kang San were 
taken by Mr. C. W. Campbell. 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 107 

buildings, with heavy tiled roofs and overhanging eaves, 

closed by screens, or shutters, or doors along the front. 

Inside is a single gloomy chamber or hall, the richly-carved 

and painted ceiling of which is sustained by large red 

pillars. Opposite the entrance is the main altar, a green 

or pink gauze veil hanging in front of which but half 

conceals the gilded figures of seated or standing Buddhas 

behind, while all round the sides are ranged grotesque 

and grinning images, usually in painted clay, of other 

demigods, saints, or heroes. A low stool stands in front 

of the main altar, and supports a copy of the liturgy and 

a small brass bell. Thereat, when the hour strikes for 

morning or evening prayer, a monk, hastily pulling a grey 

robe and red hood over his white dress, kneels down on a 

mat, intones a prayer in a language which he does not 

understand, touches the ground with his forehead, and 

strikes the brass bell with a small deer's horn. Smaller 

replicas of the same sanctuary, dedicated to different 

deities, stand in the neighbouring courts. 

The Korean form of Buddhism is, it will thus be seen, 

closely akin to the Chinese, and is widely divorced from 

that which found favour in the more artistic 

atmosphere of Japan. Its hideously bedaubed ^"^p."^^.^" 
^ ^ J religion. 

temples, which only become tolerable with age, 
and its multiform, grotesque, and barbarous images have 
little in common with the beauty of Ikegami or the glories 
of Nikko, or even with the less aesthetic attractions of 
Asakusa. Essentially Chinese, too, is the manner in which 
the original faith has been overlaid with anthropomorphic 
or demonolatrous superstitions, and has had grafted on to it 
an entire pantheon of semi-deified heroes. Nevertheless, it 
is a welcome relief to alight upon the shrines even of a 
dishonoured and moribund faith in a country where no 



108 KOREA 

popular cult appears to exist save that of spirits^ dictated 

in most cases by nervous apprehension of the forces of 

nature, and where, as the old Dutch navigator put itj ' as 

for Religion, the Coresians have scarcely any,' 

To these superstitions is the Korean peasant peculiarly 

prone. Outside his villages are seen wooden distance-posts 

carved into the hideous and grinning likeness of 

P^'^V'. a human head, in order to propitiate the evil 

worship ' r r 

and Con- spirits.^ Of similar application are the bronze 
figures of monsters that appear upon the roofs of 
palaces and city gates, the rags and ropes that are tied to 
the boughs of trees (supposed, in Korean demonology, to be 
the particular abode of spirits), and the stones that are 
heaped together on the summits of hill-roads, in passing 
which our native camp-followers would invariably bow and 
expectorate. Female sorceresses and soothsayers, to cast 
horoscopes, and to determine the propitious moment for 
any important action, are also in great request.- In 

1 These images are commonly from 4 to 8 feet in height. Their lower 
part consists of a ronghly-hewn log or post, on the front of which is an 
inscription in Chinese characters, while the upper part is carved into the 
likeness of a grotesque head, with features besmeared with red jjaint, white 
ej-e-balls, and huge grinning mouth. Their original purpose appears to have 
been that of mile-stones to record distances, in which case they are called 
Chang or Jang-sung ; but when planted in rows at the entrance and exit of 
villages they are also called Syong-sal-mak, and are regarded as tutelary 
guardians against evil spirits. Chang-sung is said to have been the name of 
a notorious Korean criminal in bygone days. This individual was a general 
or official of high rank, who, according to dififerent versions of the same 
legend, murdered his wife and daughter, or married his own daughter, who, 
for her part, committed suicide. Detected and seized, he was put to death 
by the King, and the likeness of his head was carved as a warning upon the 
distance-posts throughout the country. A somewhat analogous idea is 
represented in the Korean practice, at certain seasons of the year, of making 
little straw effigies, about Ih foot in height, in the likeness of some disliked 
individual, inserting a few loose cash inside, along with a short prayer, and 
then burning the whole thing as a scape-goat', or presenting it to a beggar, 
who will gladly appropriate the gift for the sake of the coins. 

■'' Outside the walls of Soul I visited the house of a sorceress — a big black 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 109 

Soul I heard a story of a sick man who was supposed to be 
possessed by a devil, but was successfully cured by an 
English mission doctor, who affected to drive out the evil 
spirit, which was forthwith pursued down the street by a 
large crowd and 'run to ground' in the mission compound. 
Among the upper classes the only vital form of religion is 
ancestor worship, developed by familiarity with Confucianism 
and by long connection with the Chinese. A man has no 
higher ambition than to leave male descendants who may 
worship his maiies and offer sacrifice at his grave. An 
outcome of the same ethical system is the sense of filial 
piety, which would have rendered ^neas a typical China- 
man, of unquestioning obedience to the sovereign, and of 
duty to the aged and to friends. No Buddhist monks are 
allowed inside the cities — a prohibition which is said to have 
oi'iginated in the Japanese invasion 300 years ago, when the 
invaders crept into some of the towns in monastic disguise — 
although the King, in the neighbourhood of the capital, has 
one or more secure mountain retreats, whither, in time of 
danger, he flees to the protection of a monkish garrison. 

Travelling in Korea is best undertaken in the autumn 
months of the year. The climate is then perfect — a warm 
sun by day and refreshing coolness at night. In 
the winter deep snow falls and the cold is exces- of't^a.vej'"^ 
sive. The summer heats are equally unpleasant. 
There are no made roads in the country, and the tracks are 
mere bridle-paths, of greater or less width, according to the 
extent to which they are trodden. In a country that is as 

woman with a forbidding countenance and an enormous black hair wig, 
which she put on and off, at the same time that she donned different 
coloured robes, waltzing slowly round the while to the sound of drums and 
gongs, and droning a horrible chant, much to the consternation of the large 
crowd who had come to consult her, bringing big tables piled with sweet- 
meats, but who were evidently very much frightened hy her incantations, 
and plied her with anxious and tearful entreaties. 



no KOREA 

plentifully sprinkled with mountains as a ploughed field is 
with ridges, these are frequently steep and stony in the 
extreme, and in the out-of-the-way parts which I visited the 
track was not unfrequently the precipitous and boulder- 
strewn bed of a mountain torrent, amid and over the jagged 
rocks of which none but a Korean pony could pick his way. 
A wonderful little animal indeed is the latter. With the 
exception of the ox, which is the beast of heavy burden, and 
the donkey, which is much affected by the impecunious 
gentry, no other pack or riding animal is known. Rarely 
more than eleven hands high, combative and vicious, always 
kicking or fighting when he can, he will yet, with a burden 
of 150 lbs. or 200 lbs. upon his back, cover a distance of some 
thirty miles per diem ; and provided he has his slush of beans 
and chopped straw, boiled in water, three times a day, before 
starting, at noon, and in the evening, he emerges very little 
the worse at the end of a lengthy journey. Each pony is 
attended by its own mapu, or driver, and the humours of 
these individuals, who sing and smoke and crack jokes and 
quarrel all the day long, are among the alleviations of travel. 
If the destination be not reached before nightfall the bearers 
of official passports have the right to torchbearers from each 
village. Long before reaching the latter, tremendous shouts 
of ' Usa, usa ! ' (torch), are raised by the mapus or yamen- 
runners; and if upon arrival the Government linkmen are 
not forthcoming with their torches — made of a lopped pine- 
log or a truss of straw — they are roused from their slumbers 
or hiding with cuffs and violent imprecations. In a few 
moments half-a-dozen torches are ignited, and amid waving 
banners of flame the cavalcade disappears into the night. 

Sport is a further and agreeable concomitant of journeying, 
although, as in every country in the world, not much game 
can be seen except by divergence from the hurried track of 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 111 

travel. Pheasants abound in the undergrowth on the moun- 
tains. In the winter months every variety of wild-fowl, 
from wild geese and swans to wild duck, teal, water- 
hen, plover, and snipe, swarm along the coast and 
rivers or in the soaking rice-plots. The natives either snare 
them or shoot them sitting ; and the spectacle of a rocketing 
mallard brought down from a great height in the air is 
greeted by them with frantic shouts of admiration and 
delight. Turkey bustards, cranes, herons, pink and white 
ibis are also encountered, and there is a large eagle, whose 
tail-feathers are much prized by the Chinese for fans. But 
the richness of the Korean covert lies rather in fur and 
skin than in feather. Hares, foxes, badgers, wild cat, wild 
boar, bears, sables, ermin, and otter in the far north, and 
different kinds of deer (which are hunted for the medicinal 
properties supposed in China to belong to the horns of the 
young buck) are to be found in the scrub on the mountains. 
Leopards are quite common, and in the winter months 
sometimes venture even inside the walls of Soul. Their 
skins, costing about $10 each, are part of the official insignia 
of the court. But the tiger is the king of Korean quan-ies. 
He is of great size ; and I saw, while in Korea, some splendid 
skins.^ His haunt is the wooded mountain-slopes near the 
east coast, and the entire belt of country northwards as far 
as the forests on the Yalu, where man-eaters are not un- 
common. In winter time tigers have more than once come 
down into the settlement at Gensan and carried off a 
victim ; I even heard there of a European who, going out to 
dine, met a tiger walking down the middle of the road ; and 
when I was at Chang An Sa (the Hall of Eternal Peace), the 
principal of the Keum Kang San monasteries, one was said to 

1 Only some 30-40 of these are exported in each year. The price rose in 
1893 from $22 to |44, i.e. £4, 4s. 



112 KOREA 

patrol the quadrangle every night, and we came across their 
spoor and droppings. The King maintains a body of royal 
tiger-hunterSj who captm*e them by means of pits and traps, 
the commonest of these being a sort of big wooden cage con- 
structed of timbers and stones, rather like a gigantic mouse- 
trap. A pig is tied up inside, and the entrance of the tiger 
releases the door and confines the beast, who is then 
despatched with spears. The natives, however, regard the 
animal with an overpowering apprehension, and there is an 
old Chinese saying that ' The Koreans hunt the tiger during 
one half of the year, while the tiger hunts the Koreans during 
the other half.' They will not travel singly at night, but go 
abroad in company, brandishing torches and striking gongs. 
They are also most reluctant to act as beaters ; whence, per- 
haps, it arises that, common as the tiger is in Korea, I have 
rarely heard of a European who has bagged one to his own 
rifle. I am sometimes asked by sportsmen as to the charms or 
chances of a Korean expedition. As regards wild-fowl shoot- 
ing, the great nuisance is that there is no means of disposing 
of the slain, and after a time mere slaughter palls ; while, as 
regards big game, the difficulties and hardships of travel, 
accommodation, food, and following will probably send 
back the sportsman with a much worse appetite than when 
he started. 

Thus wayfaring through the country one sees much of 
peasant life and agriculture. The villages are collections of 

mud-huts, thatched with straw (over which, as a 
easan xvX^, runs a climbing gourd), warmed by flues 

running beneath the floors, and surrounded for 
protection or seclusion by a wattled fence of branches or 
reeds. On the clay floor outside are usually seen drying a 
matful of red chillies, or of millet and rice grains fresh 
threshed by the flail ; long strings of tobacco leaves, sus^ 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 



113 



pended in festoons, have been picked from the garden plot 
hard by, from which also a few castor-oil plants are rarely 
absent. A small stye of black and abominable little pigs 
usually fronts the road, on which the children are disporting 
themselves in a state of comparative nudity. Inside, the 
dour-visaged females are performing the work of the house- 
hold, or are grinding, threshing, or winnowing the grain on 




STREET IN A KOREAN VILLAGE 



the open threshold. The men are away in the rice-fields or 
among the crops of millet, beans, and buckwheat, which are 
the staple cereal pi-oduce of the country. Cultivation is 
assiduous, but not close. Hundreds of acres of cultivable 
but uncleared soil alternate with the tilled patches ; and 
coarse grasses wave where the yellow grain should be ripen- 
ing for the garner. 

I saw no carts or wagons on my journeys, although they 
are used in the north, near Ham-heung, and in a few other 

H 



114 



KOREA 



places. The ox^ which is the famihar beast of burden, 
sometimes drags after him a rude wooden sled. More com- 
monly a sort of wooden rack is fitted on to his 
back^ and is packed with firewood for fuel. Men 
do not, as in Japan and China, carry burdens on 
bamboo poles, but in wooden racks, called chi-Jcai, upon their 
backs. They rest themselves by sitting down, in which 



Rural 
habits. 




A KOREAN PEASANT FAMILY 



position the rack, having a wooden peg or leg, stands upright 
upon the ground. The long thin pipe of the country, be- 
tween two and three feet in length, when not between the 
lips of its owner, is stuck in his collar at the back of his neck, 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 115 

and protrudes sideways into the air. When a pony is shod 

it is thrown down upon its back, and its legs tied together at 

the fetlock by a rope. 

Outside towns of any size may commonly be seen a number 

of stones, or tablets (sometimes of iron or copper), bearing 

inscriptions in Chinese characters. These are 

erected either in connection with some historical ^ eimona 

tablets. 

event, or more frequently in honour of a local 
governor, who has earned the gratitude of the people, not 
for justice or clemency, which are not expected, but for 
wielding with no more than ordinary severity his prerogative 
of squeeze ; or of a successful local candidate at the literary 
examinations, or of some public benefactor, or of a virtuous 
wife who has found in suicide the sole consolation for the 
loss of her spouse. 

Chinese influence is visible everywhere, notably in the 
disposition of the dead. The Royal Tombs are at a distance 
of ten miles from the east gate of Soul ; but they 
are on a modest scale compared with the mauso- Tombs. 
leums of Peking and Hue. Mandarins' graves are 
frequently marked by a stone table or altar for offerings, and 
a stele or pillar, bearing the epitaph of the deceased. Some- 
times, after the Chinese fashion, stone effigies of warriors or 
animals are added, or a saddled stone horse, in case the spirit 
of the defunct should care to take a ride, or a small column 
in case it should have been metamorphosed into a bird and 
should require a perch. The commonest form of grave, how- 
ever, is a large, circular, grassy mound, usually placed upon 
the side of a hill or summit of a little knoll, and surrounded 
with Scotch firs. The site is selected after consultation with 
a soothsayer, is visited every year on fixed days, and is ever 
afterwards kept inviolate from the spade or plough. The 
environs of Soul are sprinkled with thousands of such graves. 



Xl6 KOREA 

Officialism, which is the curse of the country, is not with- 
out its effect even upon the fortunes of travel. Such an 
incubus is the travelling mandarin, who quarters 
Wayfarers, himself where he pleases and exacts rations for 
which he never pays, that the villagers flee from 
an official passport as from the pest. Though I paid for 
everything, chickens and eggs were constantly refused me, 
on the plea that none were forthcoming, but really, I suppose, 
from fear that, on the strength of the hian-chow, I should 
appropriate without payment whatever was produced. Under 
these circumstances, it is necessary to carry almost everything 
with one, in the form of tinned provisions. In the out-of- 
the-way parts few wayfarers are encountered ; but near the 
capital the road will be crowded with officials, tucked up in 
small and comfortless sedans, with candidates going up to or 
returning from the examinations, with pilgrims, traders, pro- 
fessional players or mountebanks, beggars, picnickers, and 
impecunious vagabonds of every quality and style. 

These are the picturesque sides and spectacles of Korean 
travel. There are some who would find in the Korean inn, 

^, which is the unavoidable resting-place at night, a 

Korean more than compensating pain. There are no 
— -^^ good inns in the country, because there is no class 
to patronise them. The officials and yanghans, as I have 
shown, quarter themselves on the magistracies. The peasant 
accepts the rude hospitality of his kind, and the village inn 
is only the compulsory resort of the residuum. Surrounding 
a small and filthy courtyard, to which access is gained by a 
gateway from the street, is on one side a long shed with a 
wooden trough, from which the ponies suck their sodden 
food ; on another side is the earthenware vat, and the furnace 
by which it is cooked ; opening off in a single, small, low- 
roofed room, usually 8 feet square, vniadorned by any furni- 



LIFE AND TRAVEL IN KOREA 117 

ture save one or two dilapidated straw mats and some wooden 
blocks to serve as pillows. There the traveller must eat, 
undi'ess, dress, wash and sleep as well as he can. He is 
fortmiate if the surrounding filth is not the parent of even 
more vexatious enemies to slumber. Nevertheless, I have 
wooed and won a royal sleep in the Korean inn ; wherefore 
let me not unduly abuse it. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOllEA 

Beautiful for situation is Mount Zion. On the side of the north is the city 
of the Great King. Walk abotit Zion, and go rovmd about her : tell the 
towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that ye 
may tell it to the generations following. Psalm xlviii. 2, 12, 13. 

Among the unexpected features of Korea is the possession of 
a capital that, as regards size and population, may fairly be 

counted one of the great cities of the East. I 
Name of jj^ve spelled the name Soul ; ^ but I should say in 

advance that I have never met two persons, even 
scholars, who pronounced the name in exactly the same way. 
Seoul, Syool, Sawull, Sowul, are among the more popular 
phonetic transliterations. That the word is a dissyllable 
seems to be certain ; but not even on the lips of Koreans 
does the precise equivalent to the vowel-sounds employed 
make itself apparent. Perhaps to an English ear the true 
pronunciation is best conveyed by saying that the way in 
which an Irishman pronounces the immortal part of him 
fairly represents the sound. 

To those who bear in mind the Chinese connection of 
Korea, upon which I shall so frequently have to insist, it 
will be no surprise to learn that Soul is in most exterior 
respects a Chinese city. Indeed, it was first made the 

1 The name signifies 'capital city.' Compare the Chinese Pe-king and 
Nan -king, i.e. northern and southern capitals, and the Jaj)anese Tokio and 
Saikio (Kioto), i.e. eastern and western capitals. Soul is the Sior of Hendrik 
Hamel, 

lis 



The capital and court of korea 119 

capital of the Korean kingdom exactly five centuries ago 
by Ni Taijo, the founder of the reigning house,^ a monarch 
who in everything aped the Chinese models at ^ ., , 
that timCj andj we may also say now, the sole stan- gates of 
dard of majesty or fashion to the petty surrounding 
States. He built the stone wal]^ over twenty feet high, with 
battlements and loopholes for archers, by which the city is 




SOUTH GATE OF SOUL 



surrounded ; and he made the eight great gates, consisting 
of a tunnelled passage in the wall, surmounted by a single 
or a double-storey ed projecting tiled pavilion, by which 
access is still gained to the interior.'- Like the gates of 

1 The regalia and robes of state of Ni Taijo are still preserved in the 
metropolitan monastery of Sak Wang Sa, which he founded in memory of 
his 'call' to rule from this spot. The monastery is superbly situated in a 
romantic wooden gorge, about twenty miles from Clensan. 

^ They are situated two on the north, one on the north-east, one on the 
east, one on the south-east, two on the south-west, and one on the west. 
The main gates are the east and west. 



120 KOREA 

Peking, these have names of swelHng import — the Gate of 
Elevated HmTianity, the Gate of High Ceremony, and the 
Gate of Bright Amiability. As at Peking, also, the heavy 
wooden doors, sheathed and clamped with iron, are shut 
soon after sunset, the keys being taken to the King's Palace, 
and deposited with His Majesty, or, when the Chinese 
Commissioners are in Soul, with the latter.^ No bribe can 
then open them, and the only method of ingress is by 
climbing, with the aid of a friendly hand with a rope, a 
dilapidated portion of the wall. Just before my visit a 
British admiral, being a few minutes too late, had been com- 
pelled to enter in this not unnautical fashion ; whereat the 
Korean dignitaries could not make up their minds whether 
to be more shocked or amused. 

The entire space circumscribed by the wall is not built 
over, for the latter climbs with antelope-like facility the 
scarp of the various rocky hills and mountains by which 

the city proper is surrounded, and includes much 
Its situa- ground which could by no possibility admit of 

human dwelling. In fact, the wall may be said 
merely to embrace a defensible area, in the midst and low- 
lying portions of which has been placed a great human hive. 
The situation of the city, thus nestling in a trough between 
high hills, is therefore picturesque in the extreme, and would 
appear to have been specially designed for the purpose, were 
it not that the confined atmosphere in summer operating 
upon a densely-crowded mass of dwelUngs where the most 
contemptuous disregard of sanitary law prevails, renders it 
at that time a nursery of pestilence and sickness. Unlike 
the scenery which I have described in the last chapter as 
prevailing in the more northerly and eastern parts of Korea, 
the hills surrounding Soul are bare, arid, and uninviting. 
^ An interesting collateral admission of Chinese suzerainty. 



THE CAPITAL ANID COURT OF KOREA 121 

The disintegrated granite of which they are composed does 
not admit of much vegetation, while such verdure as once 
adorned their slopes has in large measure been swept away. 
A scanty growth of timber clothes the north hill, called Pouk 
San, which, very much like Lycabettus at Athens, rises to 
a sharp elevation behind the Royal Palace. But the other 




EAST GATE AND WALL OF SOUL 



hills are almost treeless, with the exception of Nam San, 
which is splendidly timbered up to its summit, 800 feet above 
the city on the south. Further away on the northern side 
the nearer elevations are dominated by the imposing mass of 
the Mountain of Pouk Han, whose gleaming grey pinnacles 
protrude themselves from sterile lower slopes. 

It is worth while to climb Nam San ; for from there is 
a wild and gloomy outlook over mountains rolling like grey 
billows on every side; while along the widening valley 



122 KOREA 

between them the river Han pushes its broad and shining 
coils to the sea. On the top of Nam San^ too^ are four 

beacon-towers — circular structures built of big 
fires stones, in whose interior tall piles of leaves and 

brushwood are nightly set ablaze, to signal to the 
capital the message of peace and security or the reverse, which, 
like the bale-fires of Troy, is supposed to have been passed 




MOUNTAIN OF POUK HAN 



from peak to peak from the southern confines of the 
kingdom. On the noi'th-west side another tall and three- 
pointed hill — known as Sam Kok San, or Three-peaked Hill, 
which the French in their expedition of 1866 called the 
Cock's Comb, because of the fiery red which it blushed at the 
early dawn — flashes an answering gleam from the opposite 
quarter; nor has this primitive form of telegraphy been 
nominally abandoned (though it is believed to have fallen into 
practical disuse), except on the lines where it has been 
replaced by the electric wire. A special code of signals 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 123 



depending on the numberj position, and sequence of the 
beacon-fires, is employed in times of danger to annomice to 
the capital the scene or moment of invasion and the fortunes 
of combat in the provinces. Towards nightfall the eye of 
the visitor, unaccustomed to the novelty, insists on turning 





if ^_ 1 







BEACON TOWER ON NAM SAN 

skywards, and is not satisfied till the reassuring spark 
glimmers brightly from each sentinel peak. 

Within the space thus enclosed and built over is contained 
a population, the various estimates of whose numerical total 
range from 150,000 to 300,000. An official 
calculation has placed the number of houses at °T^^ ^°^ 
30,000, and we may accept 200,000 as a probable 
total for their inmates. ^ The bulk of these are crowded in 

1 On the other hand, the Chinese publication, Iiiiportant Facts rclatin{/ to 
the Eastern Stockade, gives the number of houses as 46,565, and of inhabitants 
as 202,639. 



lU KOREA 

thatched hovels^ linmg narrow and fetid lanes ; but in 
singular and truly Oriental contrast are the main streets, 
three in number, one of which runs from the Palace to meet 
the second, which intersects the city from east to west, 
while the third strikes off from the latter to the south gate. 
Each of these is of a breadth and amplitude that would 
dignify a European capital, being at least fifty yards wide 
and smoothly gravelled; but even here the native love of 
crowding and squalor is allowed to assert itself, for the 
roadway is encroached upon by rows of rude straw-thatched 
shanties that have been erected by poverty-stricken squatters, 
on either hand, encumbering the passage, and reducing the 
space available for locomotion to a narrow strip in the middle. 
When the King goes out, or when any state function of 
great solemnity takes place, all these improvised tenements 
are pulled down beforehand (but re-erected directly after- 
wards) ; and I own that I was far from sorry to see a large 
block of them blazing merrily one night, both because the 
street for a brief space resumed its proper dimensions, and 
from the insight which the spectacle afforded into the 
manners of the natives. Some of them sat on the neigh- 
bouring housetops, praying to the spirits to arrest the 
conflagration, which they made no effort to retard ; others 
adopted a remedy by one stage more practical, seeing that 
they ran about with small pots, bowls, and even teacups, 
filled with water, which they dashed with sanguine futility 
upon the flames. But had it not been for the privately 
organised fii*e-brigade maintained by the Chinese Resident 
for the protection of the Chinese quarter, in or near to which 
the burning houses lay, there seemed no plausible reason 
why the conflagration should ever have stopped until it had 
reduced the entire city to ashes. 

In the maps Soul is made to stand upon the river Han ; 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 125 



and when I had read in history-books of the French and 
American frigates steaming up the river to threaten or attack 
it, I had pictured to myself a scene and a site not 

unhke the Nile at Khartum. But, as a matter of j.!'^, 

' ditches. 

fact, the river is between three and four miles 

away ; and the only local substitute for it is a narrow canal, 

which may be an Abana or a Pharpar in the rainy season. 




1. Palace 

2. Old Palace (residence of King) 

3. Big Bell 

4. House of Tai Wen Kun 
g. New Palace 

6. Palace 

7. Russian Legation 



GROUND PLAN OP SOUL 

8. American Legation 



. 9. Customs . 

10. British Legation 

11. Chinese Residency 

12. French R.C. Mission and Church 

13. Japanese Legation 

14. Nam San 



but which, when I saw it, was merely a filthy and shallow 
sewer, in which the Korean urchins appeared to find pleasure 
in paddling. Each street or alley, moreover, has an open 
gutter running upon either side, and containing all the 
refuse of human and animal life. Soul is consequently a 
noisome and malodorous place ; and exploration among its 
labyrinthine alleys is as disagreeable to the nostril as it is 
bewildering to the eye. A few elevations spring up from 
the general level of the city basin ; and these have been 



126 KOREA 

opportunely occupied by foreigners with a superior apprecia- 
tion of site, the British, Russian, and Japanese Legations and 
the French Cathohc Estabhshment being from any altitude 
the most conspicious objects in the town. A settlement of 
1000 Japanese is in acute competition with an even larger 
and increasing colony of Chinamen. Nearly 100 Europeans 
and Americans represent the remainder of the foreign 
community; but this admixture makes little superficial 
impression upon the white-coated, white-trousered, white- 
socked mass of humanity that swarms to and fro in the 
thronged thoroughfares of the city. 

The public buildings of Soul are remarkable for their 
paucity and insignificance. With the exception of the great 
hooded roofs of the Audience Halls in the Palaces, 
the whole city, when seen from above, presents an 
almost even level of tiled roof-tops, packed so closely 
together that it looks as though a man might step from one 
to the other. The narrow alleys between them cannot be 
discerned, and only the white riband of the three principal 
streets, rendered whiter still by the white dresses of the 
Koreans, strutting up and down by the hundred, breaks the 
brown monotony. Even when we descend into the town, 
we find no beauty in the exterior of the houses ; for they are, 
as a rule, constructed of a mixture of mud, paper, and wood ; 
although those which are more strongly built have walls made 
of round stones, which are tied round and held together by 
plaited straw in lieu of the too expensive luxury of mortar. 
There are no windows in the housefronts — only lifting or 
sliding screens ; and whatever of neatness or elegance exists 
in the abode is concealed in the interior, where the private 
dwellings, unseen from the street, are ranged round small 
courts. The houses of all classes are uniformly built either 
on platforms or on raised floors, for the purpose of warming 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 157 

by means of flues running underneath from a single fui-naoe 
that serves the entire building. At the other end the smoke 
escapes by a blackened hole in the wall;, usually into the 
street, where it adds to the aesthetic pains of perambulation. 
There is nowhere in the city anything in the least resembling 
the elaborate carved and gilded woodwork that adorns the 
shop-fronts in Peking, or even the monumental painted sign- 




THE CITY AND OLD PALACE^ SOUL 

boards of Canton. Another obstacle to street embellishment 
has been the existence of crude and foolish sumptuary laws, 
prohibiting the erection of houses of more than a certain size 
or beyond a fixed outlay. 

For these drawbacks, however. Soul does its best to atone 
by two properties of unquestioned and more creditable 
individuality — viz. a singular and picturesque 
street-life, and a Court which is alternately life and 
dignified and comic, and sometimes both at the *^°^ ""^^' 
same time. Why the Koreans should all dress in white 



128 



KOREA 



cotton no one seems able to say. It is not a fashion imposed 
by conquest, like the pigtail in China ; nor by smartness, like 
the Albanian petticoat ; nor by dignity, like the Roman toga ; 
nor by serviceableness, like the Highland kilt; not even by 
the vulgar criterion of comfort, like the European trouser. 
The colour cannot have been designed to resist the sun, be- 
cause in winter there is not too much sun to resist ; nor can 




KOREAN SECRETARIES 



the material have been selected for its lightness, since in the 
cold weather it is only rendered wearable by being thickly 
wadded with cotton-wool. I can only attribute the pheno- 
menon, therefore, to one of those inexplicable freaks of 
fortune, which have endowed the world, for instance, with 
the crinoline and the top-hat ; although, whatever the cause 
of its original introduction, I harbour a secret suspicion that 
the white cotton garments of the men are now maintained 
by them for the excellent purpose they serve in keeping the 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 129 

women busy. All day long, as you are walking in the streets 
of Soul, you will hear a mysterious tap, tap, tap, emerging 
from the closed shutters of the houses. This is the house- 
wife who is at work indoors with a wooden cylinder with 
which she beats, beats, beats, her husband's white cotton 
clothes, in order to give them the peculiar gloss which 




KOREAN WAITING-MAII) 

masculine fashion affects in Korea. The clothes ai'e always 
taken to pieces in advance, and after the washing are either 
loosely stitched with thread, or are pasted together with 
starch. Over their white cotton drawers, which terminate 
in a kind of padded stocking, the men of the middle classes 
wear an outer tunic or skirt of similar material, which is 
split up at the sides, and looks veiy much like a nightshirt. 

I 



130 KOREA 

Secretaries and persons in civil employ wear over this a 
similar semi-transparent garment in black. The women of 
the lower orders are also as entirely clad in white as a class 
of English girls going to a Confirmation Service ; but in the 
upper classes a gown of green^ or crimson^ or purple, instead 
of hanging fi'om the shoulders, is drawn up over the head, with 
the sleeves hanging down in two long lappets behind, and is 
held closely together in front, admitting only a fugitive glimpse 
of black eyes behind. The most astonishing Korean coiffure 
is that of the Abigail or waiting-maid, and of all female atten- 
dants in the Palace, who wear a colossal erection upon their 
heads made of greasy black hair twisted in plaits, bigger by 
far than the artificial head-dress of an old Egyptian Pharaoh, 
or the wig of an English Lord Chancelloi*. This adornment is 
made up from the clippings or combings of boys' pigtails, 
which are dyed black, and sold in tresses at the cost of about 
3s. a coil, each coil being one yard long and of the thickness 
of a finger. Upon the summit of this an enormous tray 
reposes as safely as vipon a four-legged table. 

Another peculiar coiffure is that of the King's dancing- 
girls, or corps de ballet, who are a regular feature at every 

Korean entertainment. These girls, who are 
Dancing- called ' Ki-saing,' correspond to the Geisha of 

Japan. Companies of them exist in every town 
of any size, combining prostitution with the pursuit of their 
profession. Many of them are far from bad-looking, the 
type of feature being much more regular, even if wanting in 
the feminine attractiveness of the Japanese girl. The 
national dance, which is performed to the strains of a slow 
plaintive music evoked by a seated band, is monotonous in 
character and interminable in length. ^ Like all the dances 

1 The photograph of the King's band was taken by Captain Castle, of 
H,M,S. Leander, in 1893, 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 131 

of the Far East, it consists of a series of postures free from 
indelicacy, and some of them not without grace, and has 
been described as 'a not unpleasing mixture of minuet and 
quadrille, with a dash of the reel towards the finish.' The 
Koreans will sit and gaze at it in rapt ecstasy for hours at a 
stretch. 




TIIK KING S HAND 



Hats. 



It is as a country of hats that Korea has attained the 
widest external fame, and in the course of a single stroll the 
streets of Soul will afford material for an extensive 
classification. The ordinary headpiece is a twofold 
structure ; for the outer hat, broad-brimmed and with slightly 
conical crown, not unlike the old market-hat of the Welsh- 
woman — though made of a material more delicate than 
Wales ever saw — namely, among the upper classes split 
bamboo fibres, woven together and lacquered black, and 
among the lower orders a cheaper variety of the same, or 
horsehair — is only the exterior covering or supersti'ucture of 



132 



KOREA 



a skull-cap and fillet of the same material, which is pressed 
ai'omid the temples, in order to hold in place the uncut hair 
of the men, drawn upwards and tied in a knot upon the 
crown. The exterior hat is kept on by a riband or string of 
amber and cornelian beads beneath the chin. Then there 
are hats for every rank, occupation, and even phase of life. 
The youth, when he is betrothed, wears, till his marriage, a 
smart fabrication of straw. 

The successful candidate at one of the literary examinations 
is distinguished by two wires adorned with coloured rosettes, 
which project like hoops or antetmce over the summit of his 

hat. Peasants and bull-drivers 
are remarkable for colossal pent- 
houses of plaited straw, which 
almost conceal the features, and 
whose circumference embraces 
the full width of the shoulders. 

Perhaps the mourner has the 
worst time ; for, not only must 
he wear a somewhat similar ex- 
tinguisher, hexagonal at the brim, 
but for a period of one, two, or 
three years, according to his re- 
lationship with the deceased, he 
is compelled to don a hempen 
robe, tied by a cord round the 
waist, and to carry in front of his 
mouth a small hempen screen 
between two sticks, in order, I 
believe, to keep at a proper distance the spirit of the 
departed.^ During the period of mourning, prescribed 

1 This dress was worn for disguise by the Roman Catholic missionaries 
during the Christian persecution. 




KOREAN MOUKNER 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 133 



by an inflexible regulation, he is further! /forbidden to 
marry, or indulge in any of the lighter occupations of 
life ; and instances have occurred of ill-starred bridegrooms, 
a continuous mortality among whose relations has left them 
stranded high and dry for years on the sad sands of 
celibacy, their €ancees meanwhile growing grey and ill- 
favoured before their eyes. Monks have a hat peculiar 
to their order, made of rush-matting, with a hexagonal 
brim, and terminating in a conical apex ; while there 
is a separate long narrow straw fabric for nuns. The 
Korean soldiers also have a distinguishing hat, made of 
black horsehair felt, tied on with coloured tape ribands ; 
a superior variety of the same article, adorned with plumes, 
makes of their officers a wondrous sight. It is only, 
however, when we reach the grades of court and official 
society that the Korean hatmaker achieves his greatest 
masterpieces. Thus, for the governor of a province he 
supplies a sort of mitre of gilt pasteboard ; while for 
ministers and officials generally are prescribed various 
degrees of headpiece, constructed with receding stages, like 
a Doge's cap of state, and fitted with wings or paddles pro- 
jecting from the back. Even the royal lackeys have a 
headpiece, consisting of a small bamboo structure, stuck on 
sideways, with a huge bunch of artificial flowers at the back, 
which is only less fantastic than the harlequin's cap of the 
Shah's runners at Teheran. 

With nine out of every ten persons clad in white, and 
with the entire ten adorned with these astonishing varieties 
of headgear, it may readily be imagined that \\ t 

street- life in Soul is not exactly the same, for n^^^g^' WkJ 
instance, as in London or New York. Nor are ' 

there any carriages or wheeled vehicles, of whatsoever 1 9 J 
description, to suggest a Western parallel. Locomotion is 



134 KOREA 

entirely pedestrian, save for such persons, usually of high 

estate, as are perched upon the backs of the diminutive 

Korean ponies, clinging with difficulty to the pommel of a 

saddle, which lifts them almost as high above the back of 

the animal as the latter is above the ground ; or as are 

borne along by shouting attendants in open chairs or sedans. 

Next to ponies the most familiar animals encountered in the 

streets of Soul are magnificent bulls, marching along under 

vast stacks of brushwood, and behaving themselves with a 

docility that is quite extraordinary. They are the only other 

beast of burden known to the country, are highly prized, ;<f-' 

and fetch comparatively heavy prices. Children abound 

everywhere, and derive a peculiar gratification from sporting 

in the gutters. They are frequently clad in pink or some 

other bright coloui', and are usually engaged in flying small 

rectangular painted kites, made of the wonderful oiled paper 

of the country .1 Kite-fighting consists in drawing one kite 

sharply across another when at a great height in the air, so 

as to sever the rival string. Another popular urban amu,sfiz_j 

ment is stone-throwing. Different parts of the capital, 

^ The Korean paper is the most remarkable native manufacture. It is 
made from more than one material, though usually from the inner bark of 
a mulberry-tree ; bvit there is hardly an3'thing in Korea that cannot be made 
of it. After it has been soaked in oil of sesame it becomes both exceedingly 
durable and waterproof. As such it is used instead of carpets on the floors, 
instead of paper on the walls, instead of glass in the windows, and instead of 
white-wash on the ceilings. Clothes, hats, shoes, tobacco-pouches, and fans 
are made of it ; so are umbrellas, lanterns, and kites. Rooms are divided by 
paper screens ; clothes are kept in paper chests ; men travel with j)aper 
trunks ; children play with paper toys. Then there are the ordinary pur- 
poses of writing and jjrinting ; and so frugal are the Koreans, that even the 
examination-papers of the candidates in the literary examinations, instead of 
being thrown away, are disposed of for a few coppers, and subsequently do 
duty as improvised macintosh capes on the shoulders of the coolies, who go 
marching along in the rain, innocently parading the maxims of Confuciu.s on 
their backs. The principal manufactory is in a valley watered by a stream 
outside the north gate of Soul ; and a steam paper-mill, with foreign 
machinery, has just been erected at Yang-hwa-chin on the Han, four miles 
below the capital. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 135 

which is divided into five quarters or wards, or different 
villages, wage fierce warfare on an open space of ground, 
driving each other backwards and forwards with showers of 
missiles. These contests are conducted with great ferocity, 
and frequently result in loss of life. Even Avith the advance 
of civilisation their savagery has scarcely abated ; though 
the sport, which has nothing to recommend it, is said to be 
less popular than of yore. It is not unlike the custom, still 
prevailing in one or two English places, of an aiinual foot- 
ball^ jiatch in the inain street_ betweenL-two parts of a tow n, 
in which every one who likes may take part. 

A history of sack and siege has left very few relics of 
antiquity either in the capital or in its neighbourhood ; but, 
such as they are, I will describe them. At the 
junction of the two main streets, under a roofed g ^ ^^ 
pavilion, known as the Choji g__ Kak. or _Bell 
Kiosque, and behind wooden bars, hangs a famous old bronze 
bell, which is reported, with a modesty that I cannot think 
remarkable, since I have found it shared by at least half a 
dozen rival competitors in the course of my travels, to be 
the third largest in the world. It is in no respect an 
astonishing bell, being without ornament, save for an in- 
scription, which relates that it was erected in a.d. 1468 by 
Taijo Tai Woang. But the Americans are said to have tried 
to get hold of it for Chicago ; and it never allows its own 
presence to be forgotten by strangers, for it is banged with 
a swinging wooden beam every evening for some minutes 
between 7 and Q^ f^m. before the gates are shut, and also 
before sunrise, between 3 an d 5 a.m., as well as on other 
occasions, when there is a fire. The roads diverging from 
the Chong Kak are known as Cliqng Ro.yOr Bell Roads. 

It was close to the Bell Kiosque that the stone was placed 
in 1866 by the old Regent, the Tai Wen Kun, who I'eigned 



136 KOREA 

before the present King had attained his majority, with an 
inscription calling upon the Koreans to kill all Christians ; 

nor was it till 1883 that it was finally removed. 
Shops. Adjoining the same site are the only two-storeyed 

shops, or warehouses, in SouK They: belong t o 
the Jf^ng; and are leased to the merchants of the six great 
trailing guilds of Korea, who p^y him a substantial price for 
the privilege of controlling the sale af Chinese and native 
silk, of cotton goods, of hemp and grass, cloth, and of 
Korean paper. The shops open on to a narrow central 
court, but the goods there displayed, consisting of silk and 
cotton and figured gauze fabrics, Chinese shoes, native paper, 
and brass utensils,^ do not greatly attract the foreigner. 
He is more likely to pick up something amid the old 
rubbish lying upon the open stalls in the main street 
outside. 

In the back court of a mean hovel, at no great distance, 
stands a small and exquisite, though much defaced, white 
cj^ granite pagoda, whose ascending tiers are richly 

pagoda and carved with images of the seated Buddha. The 

topmost tier has been broken off — it is said by the 
Japanese during their invasion .SOO years ago — and is lying 
upon the ground hard by. This monument was variously 
reported to me as having been brought over from China by 
the Chinese wife of a Korean monarch some seven centuries 
ago, and as marking the site of what was once an important 
Buddhist monastery in the heart of the city. Not far away 
stands a Chinese stele or tall granite pillar, with wreathed 
dragons at the top, and an undecipherable inscription on the 



1 Among these it is unfair to pass without notice the national implement 
of Korea, a circular brass pot, with a lid, but no handle, which is carried 
about by the attendant of every respectable citizen, and serves alternately as 
pillow, candlestick, ash-plate, sjaittoon, and jjot de chambre. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 137 

face, reposing upon an immense granite tortoise.^ There are 
a similar pillar and tortoise outside Soul, about 7^ miles 
from the east gate, with an inscription in Chinese and 
Manchu upon the opposite faces, commemorating the insti- 
tution of the Korean king, who kowtowed at this spot to the 
Manchu conqueror, upon his second invasion of Korea in 
1637, and renounced allegiance to the Mings in his favour. 
Under the philo-Japanese administration of the Korean 
ministers Pak and So, the Japanese attempted to destroy 
this monument in February 1895, with a body of police. 
But the villagers defended it so stoutly that the police had 
to retire re infeda. Between this pillar and the city is passed 
the Sen Kuang Kio, an old bridge of white stone slabs, rest- 
ing upon twenty-one stone piers. 

Religion at present has but few altars in or near to the 
capital. There is an altar to the Spirits of the Land (some- 
times miscalled the Temple of Heaven), consisting 
of a bare open platform, upon which annual sacri- Temples. 
fices are offered by the King, as on the She Chi 
Tan in China and in Annam. Inside the walls on the north- 
east is the Temple of Confucius, where there is the customary 
sanctuary containing the tablet of that philosopher, and a 
large building for students and literati. I also visited the 
Temple of the God of War, outside the southern gate, one 
of those semi- heroic additions to the Chinese pantheon (the 
god being reported to have been a real historical personage 
or distinguished general, who was canonised by Imperial 
edict) which are familar to the traveller in the Celestial 
Empire. The images in the temple are hideous beyond 
words, but in one of the courts is an interesting sun-dial in a 
basin ; and two side galleries contain a curious collection of 

^ The tortoise in Chinese mythology is one of the nine offspring of the 
dragon, and is placed below memorial pillars and gravestones as an emblem 
of strength. 



138 



KOREA 



genuine old helmets and armom*, exactly like those which I 
shall shortly describe in the Royal Procession, and a number 
of wall-paintings, representing battle-scenes by land and sea 
from the famous Chinese historical novel San Kuo Chih, or 
Record of the Three Kingdoms. 




TEMPLE OF THE GOD OF WAR AT SOUL 



One of the most conspicuous objects in Soul at the 
time of my visit was the Hong Sal Mun, or Red Arrow 
Gate, erected at some distance from the Palace. 
Ga?e^"°^^ This was a lofty wooden arch, some 30 feet high, 
painted red — the royal colour — and consisting of 
two perpendicular posts, united at the top by two horizontal 
traverses, through which a number of red arrows were 
fixed with their points upwards. This archway, which was 
of Tartar origin, and somewhat resembled the torii (or 
so-called bird-rests) which precede both Shinto and Bud- 
dhist temples in Japan, as well as the commemorative arch 
or pailotv in China, is a symbol of majesty and govern- 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 139 

ment in Korea^ and is accordingly erected in front of royal 
palaces. Government buildings, and temples or monasteries 
(as at Sak Wang Sa) under royal patronage. In Soul it 
marked the approach to the Nam Piel Kung, or Palace of the 
Chinese Imperial Commissioners. A not dissimilar but far 




ARCHWAY OF THE CHINESE COMMISSIONERS 



more elegant and purely Chinese stone archway, called the 
Geo Mun, stood about a mile outside the western gate on the 
road to Peking, and marked the point to which the King 
went forth to meet the Imperial Envoys. Near to it was the 
Bokakan, or mansion in which he awaited their arrival. 

Both the Hong Sal Mun, as symbolising Korean sovereignty, 
and the Geo Mun, as illustrating former Chinese suzerainty, 
have been destroyed by the Japanese since the termination 
of the war, in a spirit of iconoclasm as stupid as it is dis- 
creditable. 



140 KOREA 

Continuing past this gate to a point about three miles 
from the city on the north-west, one arrives at a gigantic 
_,. image of Buddha, 15 feet high, which has been 

painted painted upon the upright surface of a huge fallen 
granite boulder. The figure is all white, but the 
eyes, mouth, ears, and head-dress have been coloured ; and a 
gaudily painted temple-roof has been erected as a shelter 
over the whole. One hand of the image is uplifted, the 
other reposes at his side. 

The place of execution used to be near the southern gate, 

where, after decapitation, the headless trunk and trunkless 

head of the criminal lay exposed for three days. 

Execution- j^^ introduction of the foreign element, with its 

place. * ' 

scruples, has removed the scene of operations to a 
site some miles from the city, where a friend of mine wit- 
nessed an execution of several culprits — the head never 
falling till after several slashes from a big sword — and even 
painted a picture of the gruesome scene. 

Among the other environs of Soul, the only ones worthy 
of mention are the two royal retreats or fortresses in the 

mountains of Pouk San and Sam Kok San, which 

voya ^^,^ surrounded by walls and fortified, and are 

fortresses. •' ' 

held by monkish garrisons.^ To one or other 
of these, in times of invasion, revolution, or danger, the 
King escapes, provisions being stored there in anticipation 
of a long siege. The nearest of them is eleven miles 
distant, and is called Hokanzan, the walled enclosure 
being five miles in circuit. The larger is sixteen miles 

1 This clerical militia is a legacy from the days when the Buddhist hier- 
archy was a great power in the land, and produced statesmen and warriors 
as well as devotees and students. The monasteries were then fortified build- 
ings, and were garrisoned by their inmates. It was from one of these fortified 
monasteries that the French met with their disastrous repulse on Kanghwa 
Island in 1866. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 141 

distant, and its wall is seven miles round. It is called 
Nankanzan.i 

I next turn to the Royal Palaces. Just as the capital is 
the centre of the kingdom^ to which everybody and every- 
thing — society, officials, candidates, merchants, 
business, employment, relaxation — gravitate, so ^°ye^ign- 
does the entire life of the capital revolve round 
the centre of the Palace and the King. The latter niay be 
a small personage to the outer world — perhaps a large 
majority of mankind may be unaware even of his existence 
— but to his subjects he is something overwhelmingly great, 
while to these attributes is added, in the case of China and 
of its once dependent States, the prestige of a rank that is 
held divine, and entitles its wearer to be called the Son of 
Heaven. No celestial scion in the world in all probability 
exercises less influence upon its destinies than His Majesty 
the King of Korea; but that does not in the least detract 
from his titular eminence in the eyes of Koreans, which an 
ancient and inflexible etiquette maintains in a becoming 
atmosphere of mysteiy and isolation. Fortunately in the 
case of Korea, the hedge of royal dignity, still unimpaired 
in the case of the suzerain Power and of the Court at 
Peking, has been sufficiently broken through by the force 
of circumstances during the past twenty years, to admit of 
audiences being readily conceded by a monarch, whom close 
contact reveals as an amiable personage, not less human — 
perhaps in certain respects rather more so — than the bulk 
of his fellow-creatures. 

There is quite a number of palaces in Soul. One of 
these, the Nam Kung, near the south gate, is employed for 

1 This must be the ' Fort of Numma Sansiang ' of Hendrik Hamel, where 
the King retired in war, which was six to seven leagues, or three hours, 
from Sior, was stored with three years' provisions, and Avas garrisoned by 
'religious.' 



142 KOREA 

marriage ceremonies, and has sometimes been the residence 

of the Commander - in - Chief. Another, the Nam Piel 

Kung, near the west gate, was, until the war, 

^°7 reserved for the accommodation of the Imperial 

Palaces. ^ 

Envoys from Peking. A third, the Un Pyon 

Kung, in the northern quarter, was formerly occupied by 

the Tai Wen Kun, or Regent, the father of the reigning 

King, who practically usurped the throne during his son's 

minority, persecuted the Christians, tortured and killed the 

missionaries, and by his savage and reactionary policy forced 

upon foreign Powers the first opening of the country. 

The principal residence of royalty has usually been in one 

of two palaces of much greater size than those hitherto 

,, , mentioned. Accounts vary as to the respective 

East, or •' '^ 

New antiquity of the pair, the one that is temporarily 
occupied by the Sovereign being commonly 
denominated the New Palace, presumably because repairs 
have recently been required in order to render it habitable. 
The two together occupy an enormous space, surrounded 
by walls, and entered by great gates, in the northern part 
of the city; and in their precincts are included several 
hundreds of acres of enclosed but uncultivated ground, 
extending to the summit of the north hill, a conical eleva- 
tion covered with low scrub, that rises to a sharp and lofty 
point just behind. As a matter of fact, the more easterly 
of the two palaces is the newer, having been erected for 
the Heir Apparent about 400 years ago. It has thirteen 
gates and covers an enormous space of ground, much of 
which is laid out in gardens and walks, and is adorned with 
lotus-ponds, bridges, and summer-houses. It was occupied 
by the King in the early years after his accession, was 
partly burned down in 1882, was rebuilt and re-occupied, 
but again deserted after the Rebellion of 1884, and, when 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 143 

I was in Soul in 1892, was without a tenant; though it 
was reported that the King was going back there, because 
a snake had fallen from the ceiling of the Crown Prince's 
room in the other palace. Shortness of supplies, however, 
interfered with the execution of this desien : but the Kins' 
had already connected the grounds of this palace by an 




THE CITY AND NEW PALACE, SOUL 

enclosed passage-way at the back with the other palace in 
which he was then residing-. 

o 

The latter, which is the more westerly and now the 
principal, is also the older building, having been erected 
500 years ago. It stands at the head of the 
broad thoroughfare known as Palace-street, the 
end of which is entirely filled by its massive 
stone gateway, surmounted by a heavy, double-roofed 
pavilion, Outside the gate are two grotesque stone lions 



West, 
or Old 
Palace. 



144 



KOREA 






upon stone pedestals^ and a ramp with eighteen low stone 
pillars on either side. In the base of the gate-tower are 
three arched doorways, closed with wooden doors, adorned 
with painted figures. Of these the middle door, or Thoi 
Hwa Mun, is only opened for the ingress or egress of the 
King, or of a Minister Plenipotentiary going to present 
his credentials from his Sovereign ; but the others are the 




GATEWAY OF THE OLD PALACE 

regular passage-way to the multitude of interior courts, 
which are crowded with officials, retainers, soldiers, 
ministers, secretaries, lackeys, runners, and hangers-on of 
every description. Five hundred guards protect the royal 
person, the remainder of the garrison of 4000 ^which 
represents, under normal circumstances, the entire standing 
army of Korea) being stationed in barracks outside. There 
are further reported to be about 2000 retainers in the 
Palace enclosure. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 145 

First come two immense paved courts, surromided by low 
buildings, and terminating in great gateways. The second 
of these conducts to a further quadrangle, also of „ 
great size, at the upper end of which, on a two- 
fold terrace or platform, surrounded by white 
granite balustrades, and ascended by triple flights of steps, 
the middlemost of which are reserved for the palanquin in 



Hall of 
Audience. 




GREAT HALL OP AUDIENCE 



which is borne the I'oyal person — stands the Great Hall of 
Audience, wherein is held the imposing pageantry of the 
annual levees on the King's birthday, on New Year's Day, 
and on other festive anniversaries. The building consists of 
a great twin-roofed hall, constructed entirely of wood, the 
richly carved and reticulated ceiling of which, painted red, 
blue, and green, is supported by immense circular pillars, 
coloured red above and white at the base. It is empty 
except for a lofty scarlet dais facing the entrance, and 

K 



146 KOREA 

ascended by six steps^ upon which, in front of a beautifully 
carved scarlet and black screen of pierced woodwork, is 
placed the chair of state of the King. From this position 
he looks down upon the matted floor of the hall, through 
the open doors on to the double terrace outside, and thence 
to the paved quadrangle, where twelve inscribed pillars on 
either hand indicate the various positions taken up by the 
different ranks of nobles and officials at the royal levees. 
The furthest of these is so distant as barely to render visible 
the august form of the Sovereign. The idea of this splendid 
Audience Hall, grandiose in its massive simplicity, is curiously 
analogous to the talars, or throne-rooms, of the Persian kings 
from the days of Darius to those of Nasr-ed-din Shah ; and 
the spectacle which it presents on the great days of audience, 
like that which I shall describe in my succeeding work at 
Hue, is one of the few surviving and intact pageants of the 
Far East. 

In an adjoining court is the Summer Palace, a large hall 
or pavilion raised upon forty-eight pillars of stone, twelve 

feet high, in the middle of a lotus-pond. Hard by 
PakS^' may also be seen the Chin Chang Hall, or Hall 

of Diligence, the Yun Hall, or Hall of Departed 
Spirits, which is used in the funeral celebrations of royalty, 
and the Chai Hall, or Hall of Fasting. The rear part of the 
building, where the King and his seraglio reside, consists of 
a number of smaller courts, kiosques, and pavilions, adorned 
with a good deal of bright painting, and possessing a certain 
fantastic elegance. The electric light was installed in this 
part of the Palace by order of the King, who has the 
Oriental's fondness for any new and expensive invention ; 
but it very soon came to grief. Another contract was given 
in 1893 to an American engineer, who imported the entire 
plant from the United States. It was in one of the smaller 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 147 

edifices that I was admitted to an audience with His 
Majesty. 




INTERIOR OF THE OLI) PALACE 



Li Hsi, King of Korea (whose original Korean name was 
Mong Pok-i)^ is the twenty-eighth sovereign of the reigning 
dynasty. He was the nephew of Li Hwan^, the last 
king but one, who^ having no children, had been ^^ Koiea^ 
succeeded by his uncle Li Ping, who also died 
childless in 1864. Thereupon the young boy, at that time 
twelve years of age, was selected as heir by the Royal 
Council, and was adopted by his great-grandmother, the 
Queen Dowager Chao, the widow of the Crown Prince Li 
Ying, who had never succeeded to the throne. This old 
lady died in 1890. 

The young Sovereign being a minor, the royal authority 
was vested in a Council of Regency, one of whom, Li Cheng 
Ying, the father of the boy and a man of great strength 



148 KOREA 

of character, took advantage of his position to usurp the 
chief power. Nominally as Regent, with the title of Tai 

Wen Kun, Lord of the Great Court, he ruled the 
We^n Kun kingdom with great severity from 1864 to 1873. 

He it was who was responsible for the furious 
persecution of the Christian missionaries that brought the 
unsuccessful French expedition of 1866 into Korea, and for 
the frantic anti-foreign crusade which eventually broke down 
under the combined pressure of the foreign Powers. He 
was once aptly described by a native writer as having 
' bowels of iron and a heart of stone.' Upon the assumption 
by the King of full sovereignty in 1873, and the subsequent . 
opening of the country, the Tai Wen Kun headed the Con- 
servative or Reaction ary^ party, against all treaties and all 
foreignei's, while from time to time he ' kept his hand in ' 
at conspiracy, for which he has a unique genius, by arranging 
plots to depose the King and Queen, and to replace the 
former by some more flexible member of his own family. 
One such attempt to plant another son upon the throne was 
detected in 1876, and the unhappy youth was invited to 
drink a cup of poison. Upon this the Tai Wen Kun, with 
an ability greatly in advance of his times, despatched some 
boxes of choice bonbons, concealing explosive bombs, to his 
successful adversaries, whom he thus triumphantly removed. 
After a short lull he is believed to have instigated the first out- 
break against the Japanese Legation in 1882, when an attempt 
was made to kidnap the King and to kill the Queen,^ and 



1 So universally were both the Queen and the Crown Prince believed 
to have been killed, that their death was printed as a fact in Mr. W. E. 
GrifSs' Hermit Nation, which was ijublislied shortly afterwards. It being 
undesirable for a while to reveal the truth, national mourning for a year was 
even ordered, and was observed for the full period. It subsequently trans- 
pired that the Queen had been smuggled out in disguise as the wife of a 
soldier, and that one of the Court ladies had been killed in her place. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 149 

when the Japanese Minister^ Hanabusa^ and his following had 
to retreat fighting to Chemulpo, where they were picked 
up by a British man-of-war. Very shortly the Japanese 
Minister reappeared with demands for immediate and 
ample reparation ; but, while the negotiations still lingered. 




THE TAI WEN KUN 



tlie sky was suddenly cleared by a thunderbolt launched by 
Li Hung Chang, the great Chinese Viceroy, who had seized 
the opportunity to reassert the compromised suzerainty of 
his Imperial master. The Tai Wen Kun was himself kid- 
napped and deported to China, where he was kept a prisoner 
at Paoting Fu. 

During his absence in 1884, a second revolution, of some- 
what similar character, broke out in the capital/ from which 

1 The leader of this revolution, Kim Ok Kiun, who escaped at the time and 
lived for some years as a refugee uiider Japanese protection at Kioto, having 



150 KOREA 

the King only escaped by jumping on to the back of a 
eunuch, in which not too dignified position he was carried 
into the Chinese camp outside Soul. After matters had 
been somewhat composed, the King began to think that the 
abilities of the old Regent might perhaps after all be more 
usefully employed at home ; and accordingly he himself 
applied to China for his restoration. It cannot be said that 
the experiment was a success, so far as the relations of the 
pair were concerned, for in the summer of 1892 a determined 
attempt was made by the political opponents of the Tai Wen 
Kun to blow him up with gunpowder, though the misdirection 
of the explosive, which blew out the side of the room which 
he occupied, instead of the floor, saved the old gentleman's 
life. It could not fail to be remarked that the King evinced 
no solicitude at the miraculous escape of his parent— a 
callousness which was the more extraordinary in a country 
where Confucianism has inculcated filial respect as the 
highest duty. The Tai Wen Kun, now seventy-four years 
of age, is still living, and continues to give proofs of a vitality 
which neither age nor disappointment can impair. Just 
before the commencement of hostilities between Japan 
and China in July 1894, the Japanese appear to have con- 
templated making use of his influence in their own in- 
terest, and appointed him Commissioner or Regent for the 
discussion of reforms. Very soon, however, the Tai Wen 
Kun developed the most violent anti-Japanese inclinations, 
and was accordingly shelved. He seems to have utilised his 

incautiously proceeded to Shanghai, was murdei'ed there in the spring of 1894 
by a fellow-countryman, it is said at the direct instigation of the King. Any- 
how, his remains, upon being taken back to Korea by order of the Govern- 
ment, were there subjected to mutilation and jjublic exj)osure : the remaining 
members of his family were put to death, and the murderer was loaded with 
honours. Korea never so sviccessfuUy vindicated her claim to exclusion from 
the pale of civilisation. The murder of Kim Ok Kiun, however, was one of 
the events that precipitated the late war. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 151 

liberty to embark in a fresh conspiracy against the King and 
Queen^ for which^ though he escaped scot-free himself, his 
grandson was arrested, tried, and sentenced in 1895 to ten 
years' banishment. The old man, after a short spell of 
retirement, has again, as these pages go to press in October 
1895, asserted his indomitable spirits by a renewed plot, 
in which, after the King's Korean Guard, duly bribed in 
advance, and a number of Japanese, had penetrated into 
the Palace, and successfully atoned for the many previous 
failures on his part by killing the Queen outright, he once 
more usurped the supreme power, the King managing to 
escape with his life. This scandalous event, in which it is 
alleged that the Japanese were implicated, is not unlikely to 
mark a turning-point in Korean fortunes. To the remarkable 
experiences which I have related the Tai Wen Kun also adds 
the accomplishments of an artist; and I am the possessor 
of an excellent signed pen-and-ink drawing by his hand. 

With the exception of the two above-mentioned revolts in 
1882 and 1884, which were in both cases the result of 
political and Court intrigue, rather than of any 
popular movement, the King had until 1894 yeign 
occupied the throne for twenty years without 
menace or peril. Upon both those occasions, though the 
external symptom of the outbreak was an attack upon the 
Japanese Legation, who invariably represent the least 
popular element of society in Soul, the real object of the- 
conspirators was to capture, without injuring, the person 
of the King, whose seal and signature lent a much-coveted 
sanction to the successful faction.^ It was not the life of the 

1 The person of the Sovereign is held, sacred and inviolable— his real safe- 
guard against assassination ; but it is the roj^al seal that is the coveted object. 
Till recent j'cars a change of party in Korean government (which there is no 
machinery for eifecting by a general election) was invariably carried out as 
follows : — The conspirators gathered in sufficient numbers in the Palace, 



152 KOREA 

Sovereign that was aimed at in either case, but the influence 
of those under whose control he was supposed to be. In 
February 1894 a plot was discovered for blowing up with 
gunpowder the King, Crown Prince, and chief Ministers of 
State while on a visit to the Royal Ancestral Temple ; but 
what the exact object of this Korean Guy Fawkes may have 
been, or who were the real instigators of the design, did not 
transpire. It was generally supposed to have been the old 
Regent's reply to the attempt upon himself two years earlier. 
Then followed the second conspiracy before alluded to ; and 
finally, the ignominy of the Japanese occupation, which, after 
subjecting the King to every variety of humiliation, has left 
him a monarch only in name, and, probably, the most dis- 
consolate living occupant of a throne. 

His Majesty is a man of much amiability of character ; and 

many instances are related of his personal charm of disposition 

and bearing. If he does not share the bigotry. 

His char- neither has he inherited the determination of his 

acter. 

father ; and placed as he has been in difficult cir- 
cumstances, for which, by training and tradition, he was 
equally unprepared, there are many excuses to be made alike 
for volatility of purpose and irresolution of action. Until the 
Japanese came, he took a keen zest in any new discovery or 
invention, though he was not free from the superstition of 
his race and country. It will be accounted a remarkable 
fact in history that both Japan and Korea should have under- 
gone in the second half of the present century the greatest 
revolution in their annals, under the sceptre of sovereigns 
whose personality struck in neither case a very definite or 
individual note. 



seized and assassinated the leaders of the Government, laid hold of the King 
and of the seal of State, and compelled him to sign the warrants for the 
execution of the murdered oflBcials, as well as their own commissions. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 153 

The most powerful influence in the Palace, and indeed in 

the country, has for long been that of the Queen, the 

members of whose family, known as Min, were, 

J , . The Queen. 

under the old regime, introduced into nearly every 

position of importance or emolument about the Court and in 

the Government, and thereby acquired an ascendency which 




THE CROWN PRINCE 



was the cause of great political jealousy and intrigue. The 
Queen's informants and spies were said to be everywhere, 
and nothing was done without her knowledge. It was 
against this omnipotent influence that the Tai Wen Kun 
directed all the forces at his disposal ; and, though the 
Japanese could not depose her as long as they kept the 



154 KOREA 

King, one of their first acts was to evict the entire Min 
faction, who have since been in disgrace, and have been 
replaced by more accommodating poHticians. It is alleged 
that the Queen retaliated by making advances to Russia ; in 
which, if true, we may perhaps find an explanation of the 
dramatic violence of her recent removal. 

The King's eldest son by the Queen, Li Hsia by name, is 
the Heir Apparent, or Crown Prince, and was born in 1873. 
His abilities, however, are so much below the 
P "nc ^^"^^ average, and there is so little chance of his found- 
ing a family, that his position in the State is less 
important than it might otherwise be. Attention has some- 
times been directed to another and elder son of the King by 
a concubine, of whom more may be heard in the future ; but 
in the meantime the Crown Prince continues to exist, an 
even more troubled phantom than his sire. 

The KoreanrTnona^hy is, in theory, absolute, hereditary, 
and divine. The King is master of the lives and property of 
his subjects and of the entire resources of the 
mon°'-ch° kingdom. All offices are held at his pleasure. His 
word is law. In his person is concentrated every 
attribute of Government. If in relation to China he was, 
till recently, a humble vassal, in his own dominions he was 
supreme. The opening of Korea to the world was, however, 
not accomplished without dealing many and inevitable blows 
at the peculiarly sacrosanct character of the royal authority, 
upon which stress has been laid by so many writers.^ This 

1 Dallet, and Griffis, in the main copying from him, describe several 
features of Coiu't ceremonial, and of the Korean theory of kingship, which 
were probably derived from the ancient statutes of the kingdom, but which 
have long been, or are now, obsolete. These fictions have attained a wide 
poiHilarity, mainly owing to their repetition in works of comparative sociology 
such as TJiejGrolden Bough, by J. G. Frazer (2 vols. 1890). The latter, in 
vol. i. j)p. 164, 172, says that the Kings of Korea are shut up in their palaces 
from the age of twelve or fifteen ; that if a suitor wishes to obtain justice 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 155 

had been effected beyond repair even before the experiences 

of the past year^ and was ah'eady contracting into the more 

modest conception of kingship that has been evolved by 

Western experience. 

Before proceeding to the royal audience, I enjoyed an 

interview with the President of the Korean Foreign Office,^ 

an old gentleman with a faultless black hat, a 

benign and sleepy expression, plump cheeks, and v^'!u^^ 

a long thin grey moustache and beard. I remem- Foreign 
1 n T . ,. 1 TT • Minister. 

ber some oi his questions and answers. Having 

been particularly warned not to admit to him that I was only 

thirty-three years old, an age to which no respect attaches in 

of the King he sometimes lights a great bonfire on a moimtain facing the 
Palace ; that when the King goes out of the Palace, all doors must be shut, 
and each householder must kneel before his threshold with a broom and a 
dust-pan in his hand, whilst all windows, especially the upper ones, must be 
sealed with strips of j^aper, lest some one should look down upon the King ; 
that no one may touch the King ; and that, if he deigns to touch a subject, 
the spot touched becomes sacred, and the person thus honoured must wear a 
visible mark (generally a cord of red silk) for the rest of his life. Not one of 
these observances is now maintained. Suitors wishing to obtain a hearing 
from the King do not light a bonfire, but sit outside the Palace-gate with 
their i^etition placed on a table in front of them, until the fact is reported to 
the King, and the petition is taken in and considered. "When the King goes 
out of the Palace in procession, the shops along the route are closed, but no 
restriction is placed upon the spectators, who crowd the streets, and even the 
rooftoj)s, coming in from the country in thousands to see the pageant ; nor is 
any obeisance required from them. Red girdles, which are quite common, 
have also ceased to bear the alleged significance. Other statements popularly 
repeated {e.g. in the Enclycopcedia Britannica), that it is sacrilege to utter 
the King's name, and high treason to touch him with iron, and that every 
horseman must dismount when passing the Palace, are equally erroneous. 
Only those officials dismount who propose to enter the Palace. Similarly, 
the oft-quoted rule forbidding any Korean subject to go out at night in Soul, 
except women, officials, and blind persons, has fallen into desuetude since 
the number of Chinese and Japanese in the city, and of servants in the em- 
ploy of foreigners, has rendered its enforcement imi^ossible. 

1 There were in 1892 three principal Ministers of State in Korea, denomi- 
nated Councillors of the Middle, Left, and Right. There were also six 
Government Departments, namely, the Officers of (i) Civil Affairs or Public 
Employ ; (ii) Finance, i.e. the Treasury ; (iii) Rites or Ceremonies and 
Public Instruction ; (iv) "War ; (v) Justice ; (vi) Public Works. To these, 



/^ 



156 KOREA 

Korea, when he put to me the straight question (invariably 
the first in an Oriental dialogue), 'How old are you?' I un- 
hesitatingly responded, 'Forty.' 'Dear me/ he said, 'you 
look very young for that. How do you account for it ? ' 
' By the fact/ I replied, ' that I have been travelling for a 
month in the superb climate of His Majesty's dominions.' 
Hearing that I had been a Minister of the Crown in England, 
he inquired what had been my salary, and added, ' I sup- 
pose you found that by far the most agreeable feature of 
office. But no doubt the perquisites were very much larger.' 
Finally, conscious that in his own country it is not easy for 
any one to become a member of the Government, unless he is 
related to the family of the King or Queen, he said to me, 
' I presume you are a near relative of Her Majesty the Queen 
of England.' ' No,' I replied, ' I am not.' But, observing 
the look of disgust that passed over his countenance, I was 
fain to add, ' I am, however, as yet an unmarried man,' with 
which unscrupulous suggestion I completely regained the old 
gentleman's favour. 

In the Palace everything — dress, deportment, movement, 
gait — is regulated by a minute and uncompromising etiquette. 
Upon one occasion a British Consul was not admitted to 
audience with the King, because, having packed up his 

since the opening of the country, had been added two new departments — the 
Nai-mu-pu, or Home OfHce, which had a President, two native Vice- 
Presidents, two foreign Vice-Presidents (namely, the Foreign Advisers), one 
Councillor, and a staff of twenty-five clerks, and which had virtually super- 
seded the old six boards ; and the Oi-a-mun, or Foreign Office, with a similar 
organisation, which was formerly under the Minister of Ceremonies, there 
having been in those days j)ractically no Foreign Affairs. The entire hier- 
archy here mentioned has, however, been superseded since the war by the 
Jajjanese, who have set up the Cabinet system, as described in the chapter 
'After the War,' and have instituted nine Ministries or Departments, with 
Ministers and Vice-Ministers at fixed salaries (so far unpaid), viz. : (i) Royal 
Hovisehold ; (ii) Prime Minister's Department ; (iii) Foreign Ofiice ; (iv) 
Home Ofiice ; (v) Law and Justice ; (vi) War ; (vii) Exchequer ; (viii) 
Agriculture and Commerce; (ix) Education. 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 157 

uniform, he came only in evening dress. The middle and 
lower officials wear brightly-coloured robes of scarlet, blue 
and yellow ; but the ministers and chief notables „ 
affect a richer and more sober hue, usually dark dress and 
blue or puce, the material being of figured silk.i On ^ 
the bosom is fixed a plastron or panel of coarse embroidery, 
representing a tiger, or stalk, or some other symbolical 




A KOREAN MINISTER 

creature ; while round the waist is worn a broad belt, 
variously adorned with gold, silver, jade, ivory, or horn, 
which projects several inches from the person, like the hoop 

1 This has been superseded since the war bj^ the Jajjanese, who have 
compelled the Korean officials to adopt a more sombre style of dress 
manufactured in Japan, in place of the particoloured silks of China. 



158 KOREA 

of a beer-baiTcl that has started from its place. On the 
head reposes one of the winged tiaras which I have before 
described. There is also a peculiar struts which is known as 
the ' yanghan walk/ and which all ministers or nobles affect 
when they appear in public. It is a slow and measured 
movement^ with the feet planted rather wide apart, and an 
indescribable but unmistakable swing of the body that is 
most comic. The main attribute or manifestation of dignity 
in Korea seems, however, to be that its possessor is incapable 
of moving without support. Unsustained he would, I suppose, 
fall to the ground from the sheer weight of his own importance. 
Accordingly, a minister, if seen walking on the streets, is 
invariably supported by one, sometimes by two attendants, 
who deferentially prop him up under the arm or arms, as he 
slowly and consequentially struts along. If he be mounted, 
the same theory presci'ibes that he shall be held on to his 
saddle by retainers running on either side. Thus upheld, 
the Minister for Home Affairs and the President of the 
Foreign Office were solemnly escorting me to the presence 
of royalty, when I suddenly seemed to observe a vacuum. 
The supporters had disappeared, and the ministers had 
hurled themselves, forehead forward, on the ground. My 
old friend, who was far advanced in years, must have found 
it extremely trying. 

The King was standing in a small, brightly- painted 
pavilion, which opened on to one of the minor courts of the 

. _. Palace. His hands rested upon a table, on which 

Audience ^ 

with the a hideous Brussels table-cloth half concealed a 
gorgeous piece of Chinese embroidery. Behind 
and around him were clustered the Palace eunuchs in Court 
dresses. At the side stood the intei'preter, with his shoulders 
and head bowed in attitude of the lowest reverence, repeating 
the words which the King whispered in his ear. On either 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA 159 

side stood the two sword-bearers of State^ and at a little 
distance the two Ministers, who had resumed an erect 
position. Upon the royal brow was a double-tiered violet 
headpiece. His robe was of scarlet figured silk — the royal 
colour — with panels of gold embroidery upon the shoulders 
and breast, and a gold-studded projecting belt. Li Hsi is a 
man of small stature and sallow complexion, with hair drawn 
tightly up from the forehead beneath the Korean skull-cap, 
very slight eyebrows, small, vivacious black eyes, teeth 
discoloured from chewing the betel, a piece of which he 
continued to masticate throughout the interview, and a sparse 
black moustache and tuft below the chin. The King's 
countenance wears a singularly gentle and pleasing expression; 
and in the course of the audience, which lasted about twenty 
minutes, and was entirely conducted by His Majesty in 
person, he evinced the most lively interest in the friendship 
and consideration of Great Britain, and a personal regard for 
the services of Mr. W. C. Hillier, the capable officer by 
whom the Queen was at that time represented in Soul. 
After the audience with the King I was conducted to another 
pavilion, where I was similarly received by the Crown Prince. 
But his questions or remarks, which were dictated to him by 
his chief eunuch, were of no interest, and the interview was 
one of mere ceremony. 

The tru^ comicality however, of the Korean Court can 
only be properly estimated upon one of the occasions, 
somewhat rare in occurrence, when the King goes 

in state through the city to visit some temple or °^^ . 

o J r procession. 

tomb. Of one such function I was the interested 
witness. From an early hour in the morning the streets were 
guarded by militaiy, of a species unique in the world. The 
infantry lined the roadway, and were for the most part lying 
asleep upon the ground. They had almost as many flags as 



160 



KOREA 



men; and their muskets, which I examined as they stood 
piled together, were commonly destitute either of hammer, 
trigger, or plate, sometimes of all three, and were frequently 
only held together by string ; while the bayonets were bent 
and rusty. Infinitely more remarkable, however, were the 




A KOREAN COLONEL 

cavalry. These were clad in uniforms probably some 300 

years old, consisting of a battered helmet with a spike, and 

of a cuirass of black leather studded with brass bosses^ and 

worn over a heavy jerkin of moth-eaten brocade.^ Enor- 

1 Compare the account of Hamel, 240 years ago: — 'Their Horse wear 
Cuirasses, Headpieces, and Swords, as also Bows and Arrows, and Whips 
like ours, only that theirs have small iron Points. Their Foot as well as they 
wear a corselet, a Headpiece, a Sword, and Musket or Half-pike. The 
Officers carry nothing but Bows and Arrows.' 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA l6l 

mous jack-boots completed the costume^ and rendered it 
difficult for the men to momit their steeds, even although 
these were rarely more than eleven hands high. Banners 
of yellow, red, and green, with a tuft of pheasant-feathers 
at the top, and stacks of arrows, were carried in front of the 
officers, who were with difficulty supported by squires upon 
their pyramidal saddles. The middle of the roadway was 
supposed to be kept clear, and was strewn with a riband of 
sand, about a foot and a half in breadth ; but this was 
trampled upon and scattered almost as soon as sprinkled. 

Throughout the morning processions of ministers, courtiers, 
and officials passed along on their way to or from the Palace. 
The majority of these were borne by shouting retainers in 
open chairs, on the back of which rested a leopard-skin. In 
some cases the sedan was also supported by a single leg 
underneath, terminating in a wheel, which ran along the 
middle of the roadway, easing the burden and increasing the 
pace of the bearers in front and behind. Soine of the 
officials wore gilt helmets of pasteboard, with Chinese 
characters upon the back. The Chinese Resident, the 
principal personage in the city, as representing the suzerain 
power, dashed past in a black velvet sedan, swiftly borne by 
stalwart Celestials with red tassels. Upon either side of the 
street the white-robed crowd were pressed back against the 
house-fronts, and were prodded by the soldiers with their 
muskets, or spanked by active runners, who laid- about them 
liberally with long wooden paddles. On the occasion of the 
previous procession the mob had been suffered to approach 
too nearly to the person of royalty ; and a notification had 
in consequence appeared in the Official Ga::ette, docking the 
Minister of War of three months' salary for his faulty 
arrangements. 

At length, after hours of waiting, the Palace doors were 

L 



162 KOREA 

thrown open, and there issued forth the most motley pro- 
cession ever seen outside of London on Lord Mayor's Day, or 
in the Christmas pantomime at Drury Lane. The soldiers 
snatched up their venerable muskets, or climbed on to their 
njicroscopic steeds. The banners were plucked up, and 
danced in lines of colour along the streets. First from the 
Palace gates emerged a company of men in red mitres, 
carrying scarlet lacquered chairs ; then a similar band in 
blue. Presently appeared the Royal Standard, on which 
was emblazoned a mighty dragon upon a ground of yellow 
silk. The sound of drums succeeded ; and there was a shout 
to keep silence. In the centre of a running crowd there 
followed upborne a single empty sedan, coloured the royal red. 
I heard two explanations given of this episode. One was that 
in former days, when etiquette had not been sufficiently 
relaxed to admit of any portion of the royal person being 
seen, two identical chairs were used in the processions, no 
one knowing which of the pair contained the King, much in 
the same way as an empty train frequently precedes or 
follows that containing tbe Russian Czar, with a view to 
frustrate the possible designs of conspirators. The other 
theory was that the first_chair is kept intentionally empty^ 
in order to hoodwink the evil spirits who would be likely to 
assault it in the idea that they had got hold of the royal 
person. I have also heard it suggested that the empty 
litter may contain the ancestral tablets of jthejx)yal. family. 
Next came a long procession of the King's valets^ in yellow 
robes and tiny straw hatsj with worsted rosettes, perched 
sideways on their heads ; the corps of royal drummers, beat- 
ing with frantic flourish the royal drums ; a medley of 
cavalry, shambling along without the least attempt at order ; 
a small detachment of artillery, dragging after them two 
Rmall Gatling guns; files of runners, in alternate blue and 



THE CAPITAL AND COURT OF KOREA l63 

green gauze^ stretching across the street ; a company of 
flute-players, blowing a lusty monotone on a shrill note ; 
then a rush of feet and shouting of voices to make way, and 
a phalanx of sturdy bearers, clad in red, with double mitres 
on their heads, running swiftly, and supporting in a canopied 
chair of state, with red silk screens and tassels, the uplifted 
person of the King. As he passed along he looked to right 
and left, and the movement of the bearers made him bob 
up and down. At a little distance behind followed the 
Crown Prince, in spectacles, in a similar scarlet palanquin, 
carried by men in green mitres ; and then came a hetero- 
geneous jumble of courtiers, generals, colonels, matchlock- 
men, and tottering cavaliers ; the procession being closed by 
the European-drilled troops, who made some attempt to 
march in step, and whose commander, heralded by stentorian 
cries, carried an immense banner on his own shoulder. 
Later on, towards dusk, I met the same procession returning. 
Everything and everybody had got thoroughly mixed up 
in the narrower streets : soldiers and citizens, colonels and 
chamberlains, wei-e all wedged together in inextricable 
confusion ; but, above the heads of the crowd, ever oscil- 
lated the scarlet palanquin of the King, lit up by lanterns 
of blue and crimson silk, tossing at the pikeheads of the 
infantry soldiers. 

It will have been gathered from the above description 
that the Korean Army was not the least rotten adjunct of 
the unreformed Korean monarchy. Those infantry 
regiments that had been taught by foreigners and o''^^'^ 
that constituted the garrison of the capital, 4000 
strong, were said to show a capacity for drill and discipline. 
Up till the rebellion of 1884 they were officered by Japanese ; 
but after that date they were placed in the hands of two 
American drill-instructors, who possessed the high-flown 



164 KOREA 

titles of Vice-President and Councillor of the Board of War, 
but who exercised no command,- and did not accompany 
their men on to the field. This force was divided into three 
battalions, arid was armed with rifles of a great variety of 
pattern. Its native officers were beneath contempt. There 
is an arsenal (Ki-ke-kuk) in Soul with foreign machinery; 
but it is only used for the repair of arms. As for the purely 
native regiments, they were and are not a standing army but 
a standing joke ; while in Europe the cavalry would with 
difficulty secure an engagement as supers in the pantomime 
of a second-rate provincial stage. 

Once every twenty or thirty years a review is held of the 
entire force on a parade-gi'ound outside the city, the ex- 
periment being so costly that it cannot be more 

.^ frequently repeated. As a spectacle it is more 
review. i ^ r r 

unique even than the royal procession. One such 
review was held during the summer of 1894. It was 
announced to begin at 9 a.m., but from that hour till 5 p.m. 
were the 30,000 spectators on the ground compelled to wait 
before the vanguard of the royal cortege appeared. This 
consisted of no fewer than 10,000 persons, in the midst of 
whom the King and Crown Prince rode on horseback. The 
troops, 7000 to 8000 in number, then marched past the 
saluting-point, saluting by bowing their bodies to the ground. 
So unsatisfactory, however, was the display held to have 
been that there was great fluttering in the military dove- 
cots, and the Commander-in-Chief was forthwith degraded 
from his post. It was then contemplated to hold a review 
of the ti'oops drilled upon the modern system. But before 
this event could take place, the thunderbolt had fallen, and 
Korea, instead of providing a playground for the nursery- 
games of her own troops, had become a battle-field for the 
passions of others. 



CHAPTER VI 

POLITICAL AXD COMMERCIAL SYJIPTOMS IN KOREA 

Diogenes Alexandro roganti ut dicei'et si quid oj)us esset, ' Nunc quidem 
paullulum,' inquit, 'a sole.' Cicero: Tusc. Disput. 

If the people^ the scenery, the capita], and the Court of 
Korea have each an individuahty that distinguishes them 

from similar phenomena in other countries, there . ... 

^ . . . An Asiatic 

were yet in the (Korean polrEy, viewed as a form of micro- 
government, before the war, features inseparably 
"associated with the Asiatic^ystem and recognisable in every 
unreformed Oriental State from Teheran to Soul. A royal 
figurehead enveloped in the mystery of the palace and the 
harem, surrounded by concentric rings of eunuchs^ Ministers, 
of State, officials, and retainers, and rendered almost in- 
tangible by the predominant atmosphere of intrigue ; a 
hierarchy of office-holders and office-seekers, who were 
leeches in the thinnest disguise ; a feeble and insignificant 
army, an impecunious exchequer, a debased currency, and an 
impoverished people — these are the invariable symptoms of 
the fast vanishing regime of the older and unredeemed 
Oriental type. Add to these the first swarming of the flock 
of foreign practitioners, who scent the enfeebled constitu- 
tion from afar, and from the four winds of heaven come 
pressing their pharmacopoeia of loans, concessions, banks, 
mints, factories, and all the recognised machinery for filling 
Western purses at the expense of Eastern pockets, and you 
have a fair picture of Korea as she stood after ten years 

165 



166 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

of emergence from her long seclusion and enjoyment of the 
intercourse of the nations. She was going to purchase her 
own experience, and to learn that, while civilisation is a 
mistress of rare and irresistible attractions, she requires to 
he paid for in coin of no small denomination. 

Nominally, every Government post in Korea was given 
by competitive examination. In reality, the examinations 

— which were conducted in the open air in the 

Korean '■ 

adminis- Palace-grounds in the presence of the King, and 
consisted of little more than the composition of 
an essay (probably prepared in advance) upon some well- 
known sentence from the Chinese classics — were a farce ; 
and the posts were given to those who paid for them, the 
successful candidate and the price paid by him being, as 
a general rule, matters of common knowledge beforehand.^ 
This being so, it might be thought surprising that so many 
candidates should enter. The examination, however, was 
always an excuse for a visit to the capital and a pleasant 
holiday ; and, a few posts being occasionally assigned, for 
form's sake, to merit, each competitor was firmly convinced 
that he would be the lucky man. The successful candidate 
has to undergo a sort of schoolboy ' bullyragging ' at the 
hands of his comrades, which reminds one of the peculiar 
ceremonies formerly enacted on British ships when ' crossing 
the Line.' His face and clothes were smeared all over with 
ink, and were then bespattered by one of the examiners with 
white soap. Frequently, too, his hat was smashed in, and 
his clothes were torn of his back. Finally, after this oi'deal 
was over, he was washed and dressed up and was taken round 
in state to receive the congratulations of his friends. All 
the higher posts were filled by the yanghans, or gentry, and 

1 The examination system, perhaps the most picturesque and fascinating of 
Korean abuses, has since been abolished by the Japanese. 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA l67 

the highest of all by the relatives of those in great positions 
at Court. The eight provinces and 332 prefectures of the 
kingdom absorbed an immense army of office-holders,^ only 
the superior ranks among whom received any salary, and 
this usually in arrears, while the rest had to butter their own 
bread as best they could. All office was held for a period of 
three years, dm-ing which time the incumbent extracted from 
it whatever he could, the normal level of extortion being so 
mathematically ascertained by long practice, that while any 
excess was voted tyrannical, adherence to the average 
standard was regarded as a proof both of integrity and 
moderation. Under a form of government so organised it 
became easy enough to understand why the coiuitry lan- 
guished and stagnation reigned supreme. 

The Government itself — or, in other words, the King, who 
was the Government — was always in debt ; and the financial 
assistance which in moments of embarrassment he 
was never loth to accept from interested parties, j^jj^^j'^'^'^t 
whilst it did not enable his exchequer to recover 
financial equilibrium, still further mortgaged the fast dwin- 
dling resources of national wealth and independence. The 
amount of the YOj^[_j'£y^n.ne could not be ascertained; but 
it was derived from the following sources : — (1) a Land-tax, 
principally paid in grain, and fluctuating according to the 
nature of the harvest; (2) a House-tax, very capriciously 
assessed and levied ; (3) the Customs Revenue, which is 
levied upon imports and exports at the three Treaty Ports, 
and which in 1891, the high-water mark yet reached, 
amounted to over £90,000, but which, with a new tariff 

1 This organisation was rei^laced, under Japanese auspices, in June 1895 by 
a redistribution into 23 counties {fu), with 337 prefectures (chun), the ad- 
ministration of each county being placed under a governor, deputy -governor, 
and a staff of secretaries or clerks, of whom there are not to be more than 
330 for the whole kingdom. 



I6'J 



168 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

classification^ tlie opening of more Treaty Ports^^ and a pre- 
ventive service to stop the enormous amount of smuggling 
that prevails^ might be very greatly increased; (4) the 
proceeds of the ghiseng monopoly ; ^ (5) the proceeds of 
other monopolies or Government licenses, such as gold- 
minings and the various Trade guilds ; (6) irregular taxation. 
It is now nineteen years since the first Foreign Treaty 
was signed with Japan in 1876. Later conventions opened 
Foreiffn Gensan in 187.9, and Chemulpo in 1880; and 
Treaties. further Trade and Fishery Regulations were 
concluded between the two Governments in 1883 and 

1 The British and subsequent Foreign Treaties with Korea stipulated for 
the opening of a further Treaty Port, Yang-hwa-chin on the river Han, as a 
river-port for the capital. If the steam-traffic on the Han is developed, 
Yong-san or Ryong-san, which is only three miles from Soul, might be 
selected. Since the war two new Treaty Ports have been opened by the 
Japanese, viz. Chinnampo on the Ping-yang inlet or estuary of the Taidong 
River, and Mokpo, in the south-west, at the southern extremity of ChuUa 
Provincg.^.,- 

^{p-inseng iPanax qvAnquefoliiwi) is the plant, of the Araliacece or Ivywort 
tribe7"wEo«e root is so immensely valued for medicinal and recviperative 
purposes in China. One of its principal areas of production is Korea, where 
it both grows wild in the forests of the north (fabulous sums being sometimes 
paid for a single root), and is artificially cultivated under screens. A less 
valuable variety of the same plant is also produced in Aijierica, principally 
ilt, Virginia. Red or clarified ginseng, which is jjrei^ared by steaming the 
root over boiling water, is a monopoly of the King in Korea. Its ^port,,^ 
except by a single guild, is jarohibited by Treaty, and is punishable by death. 
For years it has been farmed oiirioTEe CfPWng In, a body who used to ac- 
company the Tribute Mission to Peking as interjjreters, in which capacity 
they did a little trade on their own account. They are now a close 
corporation, and are said to pay the King from £80,000 to £100,000 a year. 
A tax is also levied upon the growth and export of ordinary ginseng, which 
is prepared by drying the root over a charcoal fire. As much again, however, 
is said to be smuggled out of the country as passes through the hands of the 
guild. Ginseng is consumed in China by catting uj) the root into minute 
fragments and steeping them in wine. But it is usually mixed with other 
drvigs. As long ago as 1617, Richard Cocks, Factor of the East India 
Company at Firando in Japan, sent home a piece of the root, of which he 
said that it was ' worth its weight in silver ; all that can be got is taken 
by the Emperor ; it is held in Japan the most precious thing in physic 
in the world, and suflficient to put life into any man if can but .draw breath. ' 
State Pcqxrs, East Indies Series, 1617-1G21. 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 169 

1889. The Chinese Trade Regulations and the American 
Treaty were signed in 1882. Great Britain and Germany 
followed in 1883, Russia and Italy in 1884, France in 
1886. An Overland Trade Convention was also concluded 
with Russia in 1888; and finally Austria entered the list 
of Treaty Powers in 1893. For a full decade, therefore, 
excluding the special priority of Japan, Korea has had the 
experience of commerce and contact with the outer world. 
How had she benefited by it ? 

The sudden leavening of so archaic and stubborn a lump 
by the strenuous agency of civilisation had not been pursued 
without the familiar symptoms. Each foreign 
country had thought itself or its citizens the /^I^^^s 
best qualified to act as guides to the trembling 
footsteps of the bewildered ingenu. Of these external aids 
to local embarrassment perhaps the most remarkable was 
the continuous maintenance of one or more so-called 
Foreign Advisers by the King. There were successively 
four of these gentlemen. The first was a German, who was 
appointed to the double post of Director of Korean Customs 
and Foreign Adviser by the Viceroy Li Hung Chang. He 
disappeared abruptly, in consequence, it is said, of having 
drawn up a secret treaty with Russia. The second was an 
American, who created quite a stir by issuing a pam phlet 
in defeiice of Korean independence, and in repudiation of 
the_ Chinese claims of suzerainty, and who spent his whole 
time in combating the Chinese Resident. There were 
two occupants of the post in 1892, both of whom 
were Americans. The function of these individuals was 
apparently to advise the Korean Government on any 
negotiation or complication that might arise with foreign 
Powers, and to assist them in the making of purchases from, 
or sale of concessions to, outside parties. With the policy 



170 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

of the Governinent they had nothing to do ; and the greater 
part of its administrative and executive action was performed 
behind their backs and without their cognisance. It was 
not surprising that a position so ambiguous should operate 
against any very lengthy tenure of the office in question. 
The historical sequence was^ as a rule, the same in each 
case ; great ambitions on the part of the newly appointed 
official ; gradual disenchantment ; salary in arrears ; final 
fracas and departure, leaving behind unsatisfied claims, with 
futile threats of legal enforcement. 

In other departments less official but equally officious 
auxiliaries proffered a not more disinterested assistance. A 
. few years ago a German undertook to regenerate 

and specu- the country by introducing the silk industry ; and 
, TT^ ' the grounds of a deserted palace were handed 

over to the spade and the mulberry-tree. There were the 
trees; but the German and the silk-worms had disappeared. 
Somebody else was desirous of making matches and glass ; 
others were unselfishly interested in the creation of an 
arsenal and the manufacture of gunpowder. A Post-office 
was started and stamps were printed, but the Postmaster- 
General lost his life in a political revolution, and the stamps 
are now only a joy to the philatelist. In 1893 a Govern- 
ment Postal and Telegraphic Service was announced in the 
Official Gazette ; but up to the war very little had come of 
it. The Germans were willing to sell some steamers to the 
Korean Government in order to encourage the coasting 
trade. The Americans, as already observed, had taken in 
hand the Army. Nor was agriculture left out in the cold, 
for the King was persuaded to start a Model Farm for the 
growth of foreign cereals and the breeding of foreign stock. 
Almost all these ventures had failed ; though a Foreign 
School, which was started in Soul to impart the elements 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 



171 



The cur- 
rency. 



/ 



/ 



■J 



of a modem education to young Koreans of good position, 
and in which the King takes or took such an interest that 
on one occasion he personally examined the pupils, and 
awarded rank or office to such as distinguished themselves, 
still continued, in spite of inadequate support, to exist. 
The average attendance of students was stated to be 
twenty-five. _^ 

The most interesting illustration, however, of the 
capacities of native ignorance in alliance with foreign 
speculation was supplied by the history of the 
Korean currency, to which the Japanese had 
turned an unremitting attention. Among the 
devices for replenishing its exchequer that was suggested 
to the Korean Government by one of its Foreign Advisers 
a few years ago was the issue of /a^ new cash piece (the 
pierced coin of brass or copper and lead, which is the 
popular medium of exchange here as in China) that should 
be declared equal to five of the old cash then in circulation. ^A-^^ -c'l'i — / 
The iiew_^ cash being of very inferior quality (it was com- ?c^.y^f 
posed of copper and lead in the proportions of three to two, 
and its intrinsic value was less than two of the old cash), 
the Government looked to gain a tidy sum upon the 
transaction — a profit which they subsequently endeavoured 
to enhance by farming out the right to coin, or rather to 
cast (for the coins are moulded, not struck) this debased 
amalgam to native speculators. The results were threefold. 
The quality of the coin became steadily worse, brass being 
substituted for copper, and ^and for lead ; outside the 
capital and neighbourhood, where it was forced upon the 
people, traders absolutely declined to Jtake it; and the 
depreciation advanced so rapidly that prices rose, trade was 
seriously jiffected, and the mwiey market was paralysed. 
In 189^ the Japanese yen, or silver dollar (then equal to 



^Ic^, 



z /f^- 



172 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

about 2s. lOd.), which, at the first institution of the tangos, 

or 5 cash pieces, represented 70 of the latter, or 350 old 

cash, was equivalent to as many as 650 new cash, or 3250 

of the cash in common circulation. The drawbacks as well 

as the cumbersomeness of a currency so prostituted might 

easily be conceived. 

In this emergency the Japanese saw their opportunity. 

In 188 8 a Government Mint had been erected at Soul for 

the issue of a new silver currency on the Euro- 
New Mint - ■" ■ 

and silver pean model, and a few specimen dollars had 
' been coined but never circulated. An ex- 
' ^ pensive annexe was now, in J. 891,- added to the disused 
mint, and heavy machi nery was imported by .a Japanese 
syndicate, who, in return for a loan to the King, c^tained 
the concession to manufacture and issue a new_silyer and 
nickel currency of kindred denomination to the Japanese. 
No sooner, however, had the machinery arrived than it was 
found that the cost of putting it up in Soul and of importing 
the metal would render the speculation an unprofitable one. 
Accordingly it had to be carted back to Chemulpo, on the 
coast, where another raint, costing $20,000, was erected for 
its reception. Here a number of new coins^ were at last 
struck off, consisting of a silver 5 ri/o piece or i/en, equivalent^, 
to 500 cash, a silver n/o or 100 cash piece, a nickel 25 cash 
piece, a copper 5 cash piece, and a brass 1 cash piece, which, 
-^ however, were found to be so unsatisfactory that it was 

rumoured they were all going to be melted down and ' /' 
mmted again. They were finally issued, after the war, in 
1894. Simultaneously it had been arranged so start a 
system of bank-notes, a few of which were printed in^Tokio, 
but never issued. At this stage it seems to have struck all 
parties that the experiment of keeping open a State Mint in 
Korea, to which all the metal required must be impoi'ted at 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 173 

ruinous cost, and where the machinery was not of first-rate 
quality, was absurd ; having indeed nothing but the gratifica- 
tion of national vanity to recommend it. Accordingly the 
only possible refuge was at last adopted ; and negotiations 
were entered into and a contract signed with the Japanese 
Government in 1893 to midertake the entire Korean currency 
in the excellent Imperial Mint at Osaka. Even so, the 
experiment was really superfluous and has since been 
abandoned; for since the Japanese yen and the Mexican 
dollar are made by treaty legal tender for customs dues, and 
are everywhere freely accepted (except perhaps in the 
remote interior) in Korea, all that is really wanted is the 
issue of a stable cash coinage, the old debased currency 
being called in and melted down or destroyed. This tale 
of currency woe fills, however, a most characteristic page of 
Korean history. 

Among other commercial ventures in Korea, the Japanese 
had also started branches of Japanese banks at Chemulpo 

and Soul, into one of which inter alia the Customs 

- Banks. 

revenue was paid, and whereat the Government 

account was permanently overdrawn ; and were said 

also to have contemplated, in connection with their new 

currency, the institution of exchange offices, or banks in 

disguise, where the new coinage should be procurable in 

exchange for the old copper cash, which it was fondly but 

foolishly expected would thereby disappear from popular 

use. In the meantime, with the view of placing Korean 

finance in more experienced hands, it was suggested that a 

branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation 

should be opened in Korea — a venture by which, if carried 

out, no one would have profited more than the Korean 

Government. 

By an admistration so sorely embarrassed and in such 



174 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

habitual financial straits as the Korean, one might expect 

that, instead of embarking upon risky if not unsound 

„. . financial transactions with adventurous outsiders, 

to com- a resolute attempt would have been made to 

velopment develop the internal resources of the country. 

Means of which a consensus of opinion admits to be con- 
communi- 
cation, siderable. My journeys in the interior, restricted 

"^^^ ^' as they were, convinced me that there might be 

a great future for Korean agriculture ; and this view was 
borne out by those who had travelled over a wider range. 

Indeed, in the possession of an excellent climate, a soil of 
more than ordinary fertility, vast tracts of still virgin country, 
and a robust rural population, Korea possesses the four 
conditions of agricultural prosperity. Already as a rice and 
bean-producing country she was rising before the war into 
commercial importance, and provided a valuable feeder for 
the neighbouring islands of Japan. Among the self-created 
obstacles that intervene between her and a full enjoyment 
of these advantages one has long stood out in discreditable 
prominence — viz. the scandalous poverty of means of com- 
munication between the producing and the consuming areas, 
and between the interior and the coast. There are no roads 
in the country in any sense in which the word would be 
understood in Europe. The pack-roads are mere bridle- 
tracks, which frequently degenerate into rocky torrent-beds, 
or precarious footpaths across inundated swamps. No one 
looks after them ; they are never repaired. Transport upon 
them is very costly, and on some occasions absolutely pro- 
hibitive. No means for conveying the surplus produce of 
any area to an available market in time of dearth are forth- 
coming ; and one district may be smitten with sore famine, 
while its neighbour, at no great distance, cannot get rid of 
its superfluous grain. Better roads would be followed at 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 175 

once by a better organised system of transport and by a 

rapid increase in the volume of exports. 

The same remarks apply to river and coast communications. 

On two only of the five great navigable rivers of Korea ^ do 

steamboats attempt to ply. Small native steamers 

run between Fusan and the mouth of the Nak- ^^.^^ "^^'" 

gation. 

tong River, seven miles distant, and even ascend 
the stream for fifty miles as far as Miriang. On the Han 
River, which, if properly navigated, would almost convert 
the capital into a seaport, two small steamers started 
running from Chemulpo in 1880; one was wrecked, the 
other was usually aground. Vessels of lighter draught and 
special build were required for the shifting and shallow 
channel. By the energy of the Chinese Resident a Chinese 
company was at length organised in 1892 to undertake this 
venture. Two new steamers were placed upon the river, 
running the fifty-four miles from Chemulpo to Ryong-san, 
three miles from Soul (which it was proposed to connect by 
tramway with the landing-place) ; and by one of these 
Sir N. O'Conor, the British Minister to Korea, ascended to 
the capital, to present his letters of credence in 1893. 

Similarly upon the coasts the supersession of the Korean 
junk, which is one of the least seaworthy of crafts, by a line 
of small schooners running from port to port, would 
develop the provincial trade to an enormous extent, _°^-^~ *•„_ 
and would cheapen the cost of the necessaries of 
life. A Korean steamship company which charters foreign 
vessels has for some little time been in existence, and has 
lately extended its voyages to Chefoo on the one side and 
Vladivostok on the other. Enjoying the monopoly of the 
transport of tribute rice from the non-treaty ports to 

1 The Yalu in the north, the Taidong or Ping-yang River, the Han, and 
its tributary the Im-jin-gang, and the Naktong. 



176 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

Chemulpo, it might easily become a most lucrative concern ; 
though in competition with the two keenest mercantile 
nationalities of the East, it can hardly be expected that 
either monopolies or bounties will ever galvanise an under- 
taking owned and worked by such a people as the Koreans 
into permanent vitality. 

A concession was at one time applied for by some American 
financiers for a short railway between Chemulpo and Soul; 

and it is believed that the contract was about to 
Railways. n i . i i i r-n 

be signed when it was vetoed by the Chinese 

Resident. This railway is one of the first of the boons with 

which Japan has undertaken since the war to endow her 

pivtege ; and there can be little doubt that it will be carried 

into execution before long. Wild schemes for a network of 

railways throughout Korea are said to have been formulated 

in the brains of those who anticipate an early Russian seizure 

of the entire peninsula^ or who believe that Japan will speedily 

convert control into possession. But it will be worth while 

to wait till the Russians or the Japanese are finally installed 

before discussing what they will do. 

The drawbacks which I have enumerated — viz. a debased 

currency ; dearth of communications by land and water ; the 

consequent cost of transport; the incubus of native 
row o monopolists who control the prices and evade the 

Treaties by fresh local liki7i or octi-oi-dues in the 
interior ; the apathy of the Korean producer, the poverty of 
the Korean consumer, and the lack of enterprise of the 
Korean merchant; above all, the inexperience and mis- 
judgment of the Korean Government — are obstacles to any 
such heroic expansion of trade as was once predicted by the 
optimists. Nevertheless, both in volume and value, Korean 
trade has pursued, with occasional relapses, an upward 
career. In 1891, which was the best year yet realised^ the 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 177 

net value of the forei gn t rade was nearly <£lj400,000, and 
the tot al trad e during the ten_yjears smce the opening of the 
Treaty ports is stated to have been |50^00,000, a figure ^ ^•^■ 
which, if the enormous almount of smuggling that goes on be 
taken into account, does not probably represent more than 
/fwo-thirds of the real value. The trade before the war was 
practically shared by the Chinese and Japanese, between 
whom the most acute competition prevailed. The former 
had almost entirely monopolised the retail business, both in 
native produce and foreign imports. They penetrated every- 
where, and everywhere their stores and shops were to be 
found. The Japanese, on the other hand, had acquired the 
virtual command of the export trade, over ninety per cent, 
of which was to Japan. The two great staples of Korean 
produce are rice and beans, which are increasingly demanded 
by her southern neighbour, as the population of Japan 
increases and more soil is surrendered to the cultivation of 
silk. Hence the intense Japanese irritation when, for 
reasons of internal policy, the Korean Government saw fit 
to place even a temporary embargo upon the export of 
native grain. As regards imports, though there were no 
Bi-itish, but only Gerixian and American merchants in the 
country — the system of CJiinese or Japanese brokers operat- 
ing with sufficient success — oyer (Sixty per cent, of the sum ■ 
total, and practically the whole of her trade in piece goods, 
hailed from Great Britain, who might claim, even in remote 
Korea, to have discovered one more^market for Manchester.^ 

1 It is nearly 300 years since, in 1604, the first Royal Licence ' to discover 
the conntries of Cathaia, China, Japan, Corea, and Cambaia, and to_ trade 
with the peoj)le there,' was issued by_ James i. to Sir Edward Michelborne, 
for the East India Company. In 1614 E. Saj-er was sent to Tushma {i.e. 
Tsushima), but reported tliat ' there was no hope of any good to be done 
there or in Corea.' In 1618 Richard Cocks, the head of the Factory at 
Firando in Japan, on the occasion of one of the Tribute Missions from 
Korea, ' endeavoured to gain speech with the Amljassador, but was un- 

M 



178 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

Evidence of commercial expansion is also provided by the 
increasing number of steamships that have found it profitable 
to include the Korean ports in their published sailing lists. 
The well-known Japanese steamship company known as the 
Nippon Yusen Kaisha keeps up a service of three^ mail 
steamers. fortnightly between Kobe and the Korean ports^ 
besides sending outside steamers for the carrying trade direct 
from Osaka. Another Japanese company^ the Qsaka Shosen 
Kaisha, has lately appeared upon the scene, and runs boats 
at unstated intervals from the former port.^ The year 1891 
also witnessed the introduction of a liberally subsidised 
fortnightly Russian packet service between Shanghai and 
Vladivostok, touching at the harbours of Fusan and Gensan 
on the way. Though this venture cannot as yet conceivably 
be attended with profit, it is characteristic of the energy with 
which the Russians advance their flag in Eastern watexis, and 
make an experimental and even expensive commerce sub- 
serve larger^goliticaljeiids. It is not for mercantile gain that 
the Russian subsidies are given, but for the avowed object 
of providing a useful auxiliary marine, with well- organised 
complement, in time of war. 

In the nurture of Korean commerce too much credit 
cannot be given to members of the Chinese Imperial Customs 
Service, into whose hands the predominant influence of 
the suzerain power insured that the collection of Korean 

successful, the King of Tushma being the cause, he fearing that the English 
might procure trade if Cocks got acquainted with the ambassadors. The 
Japan Lords asked why he sought acquaintance with such barbarovis people.' 
—State Papers, East Indies Series, yoI. i. (1513-1616),. No_s. ,336, 699; vol. ii. 
(1617-1621), No. 273. From that day till the British Treaty in 1883 there 
was no direct Anglo-Korean trade, although in 1702 the idea of a Korean 
Factory was reconsidered by the Directors of the East India Company 
J^&ruc&^^jLmudSjjvoX. iii. p. 483J. 

1 The Japanese have acquired such a command of the shipping that out of 
a total tonnage of 391,000 in the Treaty Ports in 1892, 328,000 wereJajJMiese, 
as against 25,000 Russian, 15,000 Chinese, and 8000 Korean. 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 179 

Customs should be committed when the Treaty Ports were 
first opened in 1883. A number of European officials were 
subsequently lent for the purpose from the ad- 
mirably orsranised Chinese service under Sir Robert ^"s'^?'"^ 
•' ° berv-ice. 

Har t. Their salaries in Korea were only in part 

paid by the Korean Government, for they continued to 

remain o n the Chinese list and to receive Chinese pay. It 

was rumoured that the Viceroy Li Hung Chang would have 

liked to supersede Sir Robert Plart's service, which he was 

said to regard with a jealous eye, by a privately organised 

Chinese service of his own. In the interests of Korea this 

would have been a most unfortunate step, since it would have 

meant the substitution of universal jobbery and smuggling 

for a pure and efficient administration. Since the war the 

Japanese have done their best to oust the former employees 

of China. But the Korean Government has managed so far 

to retain them in its own service — almost the sole case in 

respect of which it has successfully vindicated its so-called 

independence. 

Were steps taken by the Korean Government to check 

the systematic smuggling that even now prevails all along 

the coast between the Treaty Ports (to which the 

. - „ Smuggling, 

jurisdiction or the European Customs officers is 

confined), much more business would pass through their 

hands. Opium, which is prohibited in the Foreign Treaties, 

is smuggled into the country, and giiiseug out of it in great 

quantities. Of the enormous surreptitious traffic in gold-dust 

I shall speak presently. Under the terms of the Fishery 

Convention between Japan and Korea, the fishermen of the 

former country have hitherto been permitted to land and 

sell their fish wherever they please on the Southern Korean 

coast. Each man does a little c ontra band business as well. 

It is the same with the Ch inese ju nkm<;n on the west coast. 



180 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

In I894 the King was persuaded to organise a small cruiser 
service, which should deal with this abuse, and might further 
in time develop into the nucleus of a small but effective 
Korean navy. For this purpose he applied for the loan of 
two English officers, to give the requisite start to the under 
taking. The war, however, put a stop to all further pro- 
ceedings. 

Though the symptoms of commercial development in 
Korea are thus encouraging, it is not believed that the trade 

^ . has hitherto been profitable to those engaged in 

stand- it, mainly owing to the difficulties arising from a 
' debased and fluctuating medium of exchange ; 
whilst the natural apathy of the Koreans, which renders 
them irresponsive to any appeal that places an unaccustomed 
strain upon their energies or prepossessions, has so far found 
an undeniable stimulus in the fact that the advent of the 
foreigner cannot be said as yet to have brought much profit 
to them. The 2>rices of everything in Korea have, since the 
opening of the country, shown a tendency to assimilate 
themselves to those of surrounding markets, with the result 
that the necessaries of life have become dearer, and the cost 
qf food-stuffs in particular has been greatly augmented. 
None of the Customs revenue derived from increased trad^ 
goes into the pocket of the Korean peasant, and he probably 
has moments of acute though stolid disgust at the boasted 
regeneration of his country. 

Among the resources to which the attention of foreigners 

has long been drawn, either as unrealised assets of national 

wealth or as a source of possible lucre to them- 

Mines and ggjygg ^re the minerals of Korea. It is known 

minerals. ' 

that gold, lead, and silver (galena), copp er, and iron 
ores are found in some abundance, although hitherto worked 
in the most spasmodic and clumsy of fashions. Some years 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 181 

ago the most roseate anticipations were indulged in of impend- 
ing mineral production; and a financial authority was even 
found to assert that the currency problem of the world would 
be solved by the phenomenal output of the precious metals 
from Korea. Latterly there has been a corresponding recoil 
of opinion, which has led people to declare that the Korean 
mines are a fraud, and that the wealth-producing capacity of 
the peninsula will never be demonstrated in this direction. 
Those, however, who have the most intimate knowledge of 
the interior agree in thinking that the minerals are there 
and are capable of being worked by European hands at an 
assured profit. Should the Government consent to a con- 
cession on at all a liberal scale, and personally assist instead 
of obstructing its operations, the money would be forthcom- 
ing to-morrow from more than one quarter, and it is incon- 
ceivable, vain though the Koreans are about treasures of 
which they know nothing, but which, because a few foreigners 
are running -after them, they conceive must be unique in the 
world, that many more years can elapse before a serious 
attempt is made to open them up. Excellent coal, a soft 
anthracite, burning brightly and leaving little ash, is already 
procured by the most primitive methods from a mine near 
Pyong-yang, which is said to contain unlimited quantities. 
Nearly all the iron that is used in the country for agricultural 
and domestic purposes is also of native production, the ore 
being scratched out of shallow holes in the ground and 
smelted in charcoal furnaces. The Koreans have no con- 
conception either of ventilation, drainage, blasting, or 
lighting. There is or was a Mining Board among the 
Government Departments at Soul ; but of its activity no 
evidence has ever been forthcoming. 

The mineral, howevei*, that has excited most interest 
abroad is gold, which, in the form of dust from river 



182 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

washings, has formed a notable item in the exports of Korea 
for many years. During the last decade £8,000^000 of gold 

and gold-dust have passed through the hands of 

the Customs in export. But this does not in all 
probability represent more than twenty per cent, of the real 
export^ few Japanese or Chinese leaving the country without 
smuggling out a little of the precious dust upon their 
persons ; while the fluctuations in the annual returns may be 
explained by the higher rate of wages procurable from 
agriculture during years of good harvests, whereby labour is 
diverted from the more precarious essay of the goldfields. 
Placer mining is probably best suited to Korean conditions ; 
but the introduction of quartz crushing and of scientific ap- 
pliances might be expected to add largely to the annual 
production. Five years ago the Government did purchase 
foreign machinery, and engaged foreign miners to work the 
gold-mines in the Pyong-yang district, but the enterprise 
was abandoned before it had had a fair trial. 

Anyhow, with mineral resources of undoubted value, even 
if of uncertain quantity, with grain-producing capacities that 

are susceptible of indefinite multiplication, with 
, ready markets and willing customers close at hand, 

Korea will only have to thank herself if she pre- 
fers to remain plunged in poverty and squalor. The initia- 
tive must, of course, come from the Government. Hitherto 
in Korea, unhappily, as in Persia, quicquid delirant reges 
plechmtur Achivi. Perhaps the Japanese I'eghne may bring 
about an improvement. The first thing that the Govern- 
ment has to do is to abandon the idea that Korea is an 
Amalthea's horn, into which foreigners will pay enormous 
prices (in the shape of royalties or commission) for the privi- 
lege of dipping their fingers. The next step is to realise 
that without foreign capital little can be done, and under 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 183 

native management nothing. At the same time a wary 
eye must be directed upon the not too dispassionate offers 
of financial assistance which are pressed upon the inter- 
esting debutante with sucli suspicious emulation by her astute 
neighbours. 

Owing to the so recent opening of the country and to the 
savage persecution by which Christianity had been practically 
exterminated a short time before, the missionary 
question in Korea is in a far less advanced state of ork'in^'^^ 

development than it is in either of the neighbour- Korea. 

I. Perse- 
ing countries of Japan and China. Not that the cution. 

record of Christian missionary effort in the penin- 
sula has been either slender or abortive. It is now a little 
more than a hundred years since the intercourse with Peking 
(where there was a flourishing Roman Catholic Church), 
originating from the journeys to and fro of the annual Tribute 
Missions, was responsible for the first Korean convert to the 
faith of Christ. Since that date the infant Korean Church 
has shown a heroism, has endured sufferings, and has pro- 
duced a martyr-roll that will compare favourably with the 
missionary annals of less obscure countries and more forward 
peoples. From the start it was proscribed, hunted down, 
and delivered over to occasional spasms of fierce persecution. 
It was not till after half-a- century of disturbed and precai-i- 
ous existence, in which the flame was only kept alive by the 
devotion of native or of Chinese converts, that in 1836 
M. Maubant, the second Papal nominee to the post of Vicar 
Apostolic of Korea, succeeded in getting across the frontier, 
the first European priest who had set foot in Korea since 
1594. In 1837 the first Catholic bishop of Korea, Msgr. 
Imbert, followed, only to lose his life in a violent persecution 
that immediately ensued. In spite of continued and telent- 
less hostility on the part of the Government, the native 



184, POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

Christians are said in 1859 to have numbered 17,000. After 
the usurpation, however, of the Tai Wen Kun in 1804, the 
man with ' the bowels of iron and the heart of stone ' was 
content with no half-measures. A merciless war of extirpa- 
tion was waffed against the heretical sect; the French 
expedition of 1866 that was sent to avenge these murders 
beat an inglorious retreat; and by 1870, 8000 native Chris- 
tians were said to have paid the penalty with their lives. 

The end, however, was near at hand. The reign of the 
bloodthirsty Regent was now over; more liberal ideas ani- 
mated the young Sovereign ; and the warning 
2. olera- clamour of the nations was heard sounding at the 
gates. The earlier Treaties, it is true, demanded 
nothing more than the free exercise of their religion in the 
Treaty Ports for the subjects of the signatory Powers; nor 
to this day does any article, expressly sanctioning missionary 
enterprise, appear in any of the Treaties. The French are 
said to have held out long for such a concession ; but the 
only substitute for it which their Treaty, concluded in 1886, 
contains, is a clause permitting of the employment of natives 
as literati, interpreters, or servants, or in any other lawful 
capacity, by the French, and promising the latter every 
assistance in their study of the native language and institu- 
tions.^ Whatever may have been the ulterior meaning of 
these words, the Korean Government, with representatives 
of all the great Powers of Europe stationed in its capital, and 
with the gunboats of their squadrons floating upon the neigh- 
bouring seas, is no longer in a position, even if it had the 

1 Article ix. runs as follows : — 'Les autorites Frangaises et les Frangais en 
Coree pourront engager cles sujets Coreens k titre de lettre, d'interj)rete, de 
serviteur, ou h, tout autre titre licite, sans que les autorites Coreennes puis- 
sent y mettre obstacle. . . . Les Frangais qui se rendraient en Coree pour y 
etudier ou y professer la langue ecrite ou i^arlee, les sciences, les lois et les 
arts, devront, en temoignage de sentiments de bonne araitie dont sont ani- 
mees les Hautes Parties Contractantes, recevoir toujours aide et assistance.' 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 185 

desire^ to assume a hostile attitude ; and missionaries are at 
liberty to come and go as they please, and to make converts 
where they can. There are said to be many thousand native 
Christians^ Roman Catholics^ in the country. In a letter 
dated May 1894, Monsignor Mutel, Vicar Apostolic of the 
Roman Catholic Church in Korea, stated that whereas the 
number of Korean Christians in 1886 was 14,000, in 1894 it 
was 208,423. Their priests, many of whom are Koreans, live 
in their midst; and every member of the flock, however 
remote his residence, is visited once in each year by his 
spiritual father. The French Catholic Church and Establish- 
ment, occupying a natural elevation, are one of the most 
prominent objects in Soul, and their earlier start has given 
them an advantage which the Protestants will not easily 
retrieve. 

In 1890 an English Protestant Bishop (whose diocese is 
Korea and Shing-king, i.e. Manchuria) first appeared upon 

the scene, and when I was in Soul, the Mission ^ ... 

English 

establishment consisted, in addition, of several Protestant 
clergy, some lay-helpers, a doctor, and some sisters 
of St. Paul's, Kilburn. Churches had been built in Soul and 
Chemulpo, hospitals had been opened in both places, a 
printing-press had been established at Soul, and the mission- 
aries were still engaged in acquiring the language before 
turning their energies either to evangelisation or to the 
translation of the Prayer-book into Korean.^ There was as 
yet neither Korean congregation nor Korean convert. Sim- 
ultaneously, and even earlier, American, Canadian, and 
Australian Societies or Churches had deputed bands of 
ardent workers to enter the field ; and, all told, there were 

1 The New Testament was translated into Korean over twelve years ago 
by Rev. J. Ross of Newcliwang ; and in 1882 the Religious Tract Society 
published an introduction to it, and a catechism of the chief Biblical doctrines, 
in Korean. 



186 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 

between thirty and forty Protestant ministers at work in 

Korea. 

What may be the future that lies before them it would be 

hazardous at this stage to predict. The Korean wolf has 

not been converted straight away^ by the exigen- 

^^^^^ ^ cies of national weakness or outside pressure, into 
sentiment. ^ 

a lamb ; and a people at once so incurious, and so 
firmly wedded to Chinese ethics and ancestor-worship, may 
be expected in some places to oppose a stubborn front of re- 
sistance, in others to indulge in occasional outbursts of frantic 
antagonism. A few such cases have occurred even since the 
Treaties. In 1888 an outbreak took place in the streets of 
Soul, the ridiculous rumour (not unlike that which preceded 
the famous Tientsin massacres in 1870, as well as later out- 
rages in China) having been spread that the American 
missionaries had been stealing and boiling Korean babies in 
order to manufacture chemicals for use in photography. 
Nine native officials who were alleged to have been concerned 
in the transaction were seized and decapitated by the mob ; 
and the crews of the foreign gunboats at Chemulpo were 
marched up to the capital to protect the subjects of their 
several nationalities. More recently there has been a re- 
crudescence of the same feeling. In 1892 a Catholic mission- 
ary was attacked and beaten at a town in the interior, and a 
threatening proclamation was posted on the missionary doors 
in Soul. Early, in 1893 a politico-religious party, calling it- 
self the Tokaguto or Tonghak, i.e. the Party of Oriental 
Learning, and appealing to the Conservative instinct of the 
people, started into being and attained menacing proportions, 
both in the capital and in the provinces. Its leaders pre- 
sented a petition to the Throne demanding the prohibition 
of all foreign religions and the expulsion of the merchants — 
in other words, the abi'ogation of the Treaties. Nor was it 



SYMPTOMS IN KOREA 187 

till after the ringleaders had been arrested, and foreign men- 
of-war had hurried from all quarters of the China Seas to 
Chemulpo — while the Japanese community in Soul, who 
are always the first victims of attack, had organised a militia 
in their own defence — ^that the peril subsided. 

In the following year, in the disturbances again organised 
by the Tonghaks, which preceded and furnished the main 
Japanese plea for the declaration of war, the native Christians 
suffered severely. A French missionary, Pere Jozeau, was 
brutally murdered in July. Christian villages were pillaged 
and burned, many native Christians were killed, and, before 
the war had half run its course, there were less than half a 
dozen Catholic missionaries left in Korea, and those at or 
near to the Treaty Ports. The Tonghaks have now been 
suppressed, and almost all spirit has been crushed out of 
the Koreans. Nevertheless the outlook is not reassuring. 
Because the Korean is ordinarily friendly to foreigners, it 
does not follow that he has any genuine fondness for us, still 
less for our creed. Instinctive in him is the Conservatism of 
a hide-bound stolidity ; and to suppose that the walls of the 
Korean Jericho are going to fall flat down at the first blast 
of the missionary trumpet is to cherish a belief from which 
the future will in all likelihood provide some more sharp 
awakenings. On the other hand, since, in the dramatic 
history of Korean Christianity, there is much cause for 
admiration, there is consequently good ground for hope. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE POLITICAL FUTUllE OF KOREA 

Behold, a peojile shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many 
kings shall be raised np from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the 
bow and the lance : they are cruel, and will not show mercy : their voice 
shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride u]3on horses, every one put in 
array, like a man to the battle, against thee. Jeremiah 1. 41-42. 

Before leaving Korea I must devote a final chapter to a 

discussion of the subject to which all other Korean questions 

are subsidiary, and to find a clue to which I was 

l3oiiHc^l~ attracted thither from afar — viz. the political 

status of future that awaits this shuttlecock among the 
Korea. . t i i i i . 

nations. 1 use the phrase as accurately descrip- 
tive of the relation in which ^Korea stood in j.892 :to the 
various Powers who were represented at her capital, who 
treated her from entirely different and wholly irreconcilable 
standpoints, according to their own interests or prejudices, 
and at whose hands she was alternately — nay, even simul- 
taneously — patronised, cajoled, bullied, and caressed. A 
more a noma lous political condition certainly did not exist 
in_±he world than that of a country which itself claimed to 
be both independent and dependent, and could produce 
powerful evidence in support of either hypothesis ; and as 
to which oiitside Powers advanced pretensions of suzerainty, 
control, protectorate, alliance, mo§t-favoured-nation treat- 
ment, or technical equality, for all of which there was 
considerable show of justification. This curious state of 
affairs had arisen, in the first place, out of the peculiar 

188 — 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 189 

geogi'apliical situation of Korea as a sort of political Tom 
Tiddler's ground between China, Russia, and Japan ; and, 
secondly, out of the contradictory policy pursued by the 
first-named of these Powers in moments of calculation or of 
alarm at the attitude or encroachments of the others. By 
a survey of the respective positions occupied or claimed 
by this trio, who were the protagonists in the international 
play for which Korea provided an involuntary stage, while 
the remaining nations were either cast for minor parts in 
the same piece, or sat as interested spectators in the 
auditorium, we may succeed in elucidating the earlier 
history of the drama that assumed such sanguinary develop- 
ments in 1894. 

Though Korea has been ruled by successive dynasties of 
monarchs for centuries, there has scarcely been a time since 

the commencement of the Christian era when it ^ 

Connec- 

has not acknowledged a greater or less depend- tion with 
ence upon either China or Japan. The claims of "^ 
the latter Power, which in the declining years of the 
Shogunate were allowed to shrink into the background — 
to the great regret of Japanese patriots — were both the 
earlier in origii^and have been exercised over the longer 
space of time. It was as early as the third century a.d. 
that a masculine Empress^Tlegent of Japan, bearing the 
appropriate name of Jingo or Zingu, herself led an expedi- 
tion against Korea and received th©s^ubmission of that 
State. From that time down to the end of4he fourteenth 
century the relations between the two countries, though 
frequently disturbed, were, as a rule, those of Japanese 
ascendency and Korean allegiance. Tribute Missions 
constantly sailed froin Fusan to the Court of Mikado or 
Shogun; and there grew up in Japanese minds the con- 
viction, which has never been extirpated, that to surrender 



190 KOREA 

Korea would be as indelible a stain upon the national 
honour as Mary of England felt it to lose Calais. After 
1392, however, when the Mings assisted the Ni dynasty to 
establish itself on the Korean throne, the influence of China 
became paraiTiount, and the marks of deference to Japan 
dwindled, until in 1460 the last Korean Embassy started 
for the Shogun's Court at Kamakura. It was accordingly 
as much to punish a refractory vassal as it was to prosecute 
loftier schemes of conquest against China herself that 
Hideyoshi designed his famous Korean expeditions. This 
invasion, by which the peninsula was desolated from end to 
end for six years (1592-98), had, even before the recent war 
broke out, permanently affected the relations between the 
two countries. It had left a heritage of wounded pride and 
national antipathy in the breast of the Koreans which three 
centuries had not availed to erase ; while it heightened the 
exasperation felt by Japan that the vassal whom she crushed 
so utterly should for so long have managed to elude her 
clutch. 

The retreat of the Japanese for a time suspended com- 
munications between the two States; but in I6I8 occurred 
the Korean Mission, to which I have already 
Iribute alluded in a footnote; and in l623 lyemitsu 
demanded the revival of the tribute ; and from 
that date, in spite of the absolute submission of the Korean 
Throne to the Manchus from l637 onwards. Missions 
continued to make their annual excursion to Tokio, entirely 
at the expense of the Japanese, and with no advantage to 
the latter beyond the barren compliment to their pride. 
Owing to the exorbitant cost of entertainment a change 
was effected in 1790, when the envoys, instead of crossing 
to the Japanese mainland, were invited to proceed as far as 
Tsushima only ; with which change the so-called tribute 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 191 

shrank still more into an annual exchange of presents with 
little or no admission of political subordination. This 
incongruous condition of affairs lasted till 1832^ when the 
last complimentary mission upon a Shogun's accession was 
despatched from Korea to the Japanese Court. 

A new era now opened, in ^v^iiclwFapan, by dint of her 
own political resuscitation, Was to re-establish a powerful 

influence in Korea, although at the\Cost of the „ . . 

''^ ^ r notion 

feudatory relationship which for so many centuries and rup- 
it had been her boastful pretension to maintain. 
When the Korean Government was threatened by the 
French invasion in 1866, it is said to have remembered its 
old connection, and to have solicited the advice and aid of 
Japan. No reply being returned to this request it was not 
surprising that when in 1868 a Japanese embassy arrived in 
Soul to convey the formal announcement of the political 
revolution in Japan, and the resumption by the Mikado of 
full sovereignty, and to invite from the Koreans a renewal 
of ancient friendship and vassalage, an insolent refusal was 
returned by the Tai Wen Kun. In Japan the Samurai 
party were furious ; but the country was too poor and too 
much hampered by other complications to go to war ; 
although the Chauvinist spirit found angry vent in rebellion 
in Saga, and in an attempt upon the life of the Japanese 
statesman Iwakui'a, who, on his return from Europe with 
Okubo in 1873, stoutly resisted a policy of stronger 
measures. To satisfy these ardent spirits, two successive 
but bootless Japanese missions, conducted by Hanabusa and 
Moriyama, were sent to Korea in 1873 and 1874, to re- 
establish Japanese authority by peaceful means, while the 
filibustering Formosan expedition was undertaken to keep 
the war-party employed in 1874. Nevertheless, when in 
1875 a Japanese man-of-war, the Umjolcan, had been fired 



192 KOREA 

upon by the Koreans from the island of Kanghwa on the 
Han^ and after an appeal to Peking and the receipt of an 
assurance from the Chinese Government that all responsi- 
bility was disowned by them, the first Japanese Treaty of 
1876 was presented as an ultimatum and signed^ the 
military party again broke forth into stormy discontent, 
and the great Saigo of Satsuma, splitting irrevocably with 
the Government, retired to his patrimony to plot the 
terrible civil war that commenced in the following year. 

The self-restraint and caution of the then race of Japanese 
statesmen were, however, amply rewarded. They wisely 
T, recognised that the time for an aggressive policy 

ofinflu- was not then, and that Japanese influence in 

ence. 

Treaty of Korea could best be recovered, not by sustained 

1876. invasion or conquest, biit by the subtler move- 

ments of diplomatic finesse and commercial control. In 
this sagacious policy they were assisted by the weakness 
and indecision of China. When the above-mentioned Treaty 
was concluded, in 1876", with Korea, the opening words in 
Article 1 contained the remarkable statement that ' Chosen, 
being an independent State, enjoys the same sovereign rights 
as does Japan ' — an admission which was foolishly winked at 
by China from the mistaken notion that, by disavowing her 
connection with Korea, she could escape the unpleasantness 
of being called to account for the delinquencies of her vassal. 
This preliminary advantage was more than doubled in 
value to Japan when, after the revolution in Soul in 1882, 

by which her diplomatic representative was com- 
tion of pelled to flee from the Korean capital, she con- 

Tientsin eluded a Convention with Korea, containing a 
in 1885. '^ 

stipulation that she should have the right to 

station troops for the protection of her own nationals in 
that country. It was quadrupled when, after the second 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 198 

revolution in 1884, and the second Hegira to Chemulpo, 
Japan at once sent troops to avenge the insult and declined 
to remove them until China had made a similar concession 
with regard to the Chinese garrison, which had been main- 
tained since the previous outbreak in 1882 in that city. By 
the Convention of Tientsin, which was negotiated in April 
1885 by Count Ito with the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, both 
parties agreed to withdraw their troops and not to send an 
armed force to Korea at any future date to suppress rebellion 
or disturbance without giving previous intimation to the 
other. 1 This document was a second diplomatic triumph 
for Japan ; for, whilst it was safe to aver that neither Power 
would ever be seriously deterred thereby from hostile action, 
it yet involved the very admission of substantial equality of 
rights as regards Korea which Japan had all along been 
labouring to reassert, and which China, except in the 
moments when she had been caught napping, had as con- 
sistently repudiated. Japan, therefore, if she had not re- 
covered her former position, had at least re-established her 
credit. It was, in my judgment, greatly to be regretted 
that in the summer of 1894 her Government, anxious to 
escape from domestic tangles by a spirited foreign policy, 
abandoned this statesmanlike attitude, and embarked upon 
a course of aggression in Korea, for which there appeared to 
be no sufficient provocation, and the ulterior consequences 
of which, even after the brilliant issue of the campaign, it is 
still too early to forecast. 

So much for the political revindication of Japan prior to 

1 This stipulation was contained iu the conchiding article of the Convention, 
which ran as follows: — 'In case of any disturbance of a serious character 
occurring in Korea rendering it necessary for the resjjective countries (.Japan 
and China) or either of them to send troops to Korea, it is hereby luiderstood 
that they shall give, each to the other, previous notice in writing of their in- 
tention so to do, and after the matter is settled, they shall withdraw their 
troops immediately and not further station them there.' 

N 



194 KOREA 

the war. Simultaneously she pursued with unflagging energy 
the policy of commercial and fiscal ascendency in Korea. 

„ Active and business-like as compared with the 

Commer- '■ 

cial ascen- indolent Koreans, possessed of capital, and under- 
standing how to make others pay through the nose 
for the loan of it, her colonists and merchants had gradually 
fastened a grip on the weaker country which it would in 
any case have been exceedingly difficult to shake off. The 
Japanese had got the mint and banks already. The Govern- 
ment was largely in their debt. They were daily pressing 
for concessions of every description. Their eye had long 
been fixed upon the Customs, then in the hands of their 
rivals, the Chinese, and in a few years' time they hoped to 
have obtained so commanding a hold upon the national 
resoui'ces of Korea as to render her political dependence 
upon China a constitutional fiction which the wisdom born ot 
accomplished facts might ultimately allow to expire. This 
policy was, of course, one of selfishness. But its success was 
not thereby so much imperilled as it was by the national 
race-hatre^ between Koreans and Japanese, that was and is 
one of the most striking phenomena in contemporary Chosen. 
Civil and obliging in their own country, the Japanese even 
before the war had developed in Korea a faculty for bullying 
and bluster that was the result partly of national vanity, 
partly of the memories of the past. The lower orders ill- 
treated the Koreans on every possible opportunity, and were 
cordially detested by them in return. Indeed, it was very 
amusing to contrast the extreme sensitiveness of Japan 
towards the Treaty Powers in her own territories and her 
indignant protest against the severity of the Treaties, with 
the domineering callousness with which she, the first of the 
Treaty Powers in Korea, treated the latter unfortunate 
country because of its weakness, and exacted every ounce 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 195 

of flesh permitted by the Treaties between them.^ Such a 
relationship, which was in marked contrast with the amicable 
terms on which the Koreans and Chinese subsisted side by 
side, did not assist Japan in the war, during which the 
Koreans lent every possible aid to China, and, aggravated as 
it has been by the issue of the conflict, will not facilitate 
the issue which Japanese ambition has in view. 

A striking instance of this attitude was afforded just before 
the outbi'eak of hostilities. In the course of 1889 the 
Korean Government, finding that the native- 
grown beans, were being bought up in_ great , ? ^^'^^ 
quantity by Japanese merchants for exportation 
t o Japan , issued a temporary prohibition of export in two 
provi nces. By this decree the purchasers, who had already 
made advances to the cultivators, alleged that they were the 
losers by nearly $220,000, owing to their inability to recover 
their loans and to the non-delivery of the grain. Now by the 
Trade Regulations agreed upon between Korea and Japan in 
1883, the former country had the right to prohibit the export 
of^cereals in time of scarcity or emergency.- The Japanese, 
however, alleged that the emergency had not arisen in this 
case, and also that the stipulated month's notice had not 
been given in advance. The claim was pressed with greater 
or less insistence for four years, the Korean Government 
admitting a certain liability, but expressing its incapacity, 
owing to continued impoverishment, to pay more than 
$60,000 in compensation. At length the Radical and Jingo 
party in Japan became very much excited at this insulting 

1 When Japan dictated the first Kiitfiaii-JCr£aty_iii_LSZ6, she Qopied. the 
extra-Jerxitorial clauses almost verbatim fi-om Articles iv. and v. of the Anglo- 
Jimauese . Treaty of 1858 ; and lias never shown any reluctance to set in 
operation against Korea the provisions of which sfhe complains so bitterly 
when applied to herself. 

- Regulation xxxvu. 



196 KOREA 

procrastination. As a sop to them the Japanese Minister to 
Soul was recalled, and a young Radical firebrand, who had 
recently published a book on Korea on the strength of a 
short visit there, was sent out to pursue a policy of brag. 
This individual, by presenting an ultimatum at the throat of 
the Korean Court, eventually compounded the dispute for 
$110,000; but, being totally destitute either of manners or 
of official training, he affronted the King and his Ministers to 
such an extent by his unseemly violation of all diplomatic 
etiquette in his interviews with them, that he was summarily 
recalled by the Japanese Government, returning to Tokip to 
be made the recipient of a popular ovation. 

At that time Count Ito and his colleagues were not 
believed to have any sympathy with this intemperate and 
swaggering attitude towards the weaker State, 
rue po icy ^^^^y appeared to recognise that Japanese policy 
in Korea could only attain its ends by a friendly 
understanding with China; that the effort to recover purely 
political ascendency in Soul was incompatible with such an 
understanding ; and that every attempt to humiliate or 
terrorise over Korea was to pl^jChiiiaj game, and to 
tighten the bonds that united the vassal with the suzerain. 
At the same time no Japanese minister could afford al- 
together to abandon the immemorial claims of his country 
over the petty adjacent kingdom ; while every Japanese 
minister has now to deal with a people — namely, his own 
countrymen — who, when their so-called patriotic instincts 
are appealed to, are apt to respond by going stark mad. 

It is the latter phenomenon, and the skilful but not too 
scrupulous use that was made of it, coupled with a justifiable 
confidence on the part of the Japanese in the superiority 
of their naval and military armaments, that prompted the 
rupture with China and the sustained invasion of Korea in 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 197 

the summer of 18.94. Taking advantage of disturbances in 
the peninsula, which demonstrated with renewed clearness 
the impotence of the native Government to pro- 
vide either a decent administration for its own ^^'^break 

of war. 
subjects, or adequate protection to the interests of 

foreigners, and ingeniously profiting by the loophole left for 

future interference in the Tientsin Agreement of 1885, 

Japan in July 1894 responded to the despatch by China of a 

body of 2000 men, at the request of the Korean King, to 

assist him in putting down the Tonghak rebellion, by herself 

landing a inuch larger military force, estimated at 10,000 

men, in Korea, and by seizing the capital. Li Hung Chang 

retaliated by the despatch of the Chinese fleet and of an 

expeditionary force, marching overland into the northern 

provinces. Both parties declined to retire : China relying 

upon her genuine authority and influence, but feeling that 

she had been somewhat outwitted ; Japan being resolved to 

atone for previous blunders, and to reap a full advantage 

from her crafty but scarcely defensible diplomacy. After 

preliminary engagements, the result of which was entirely in 

favour of Japan, war was declared by the latter; and its 

subsequent progress, Avhich on her side almost amounted to a 

procession, and on that of China to a stampede, is sufficiently 

recalled by the names of Ping-yang, Yalu River, Port 

Arthur, and Wei Hai Wei. With its consequences I shall 

deal in a later chapter. 

I turn next to the position of China. Her ascendency in 

Korea, which had far more natural conditions in the shape of 

common language, customs, religion, and philosophy, 

Connec- 
as well as territorial connection, to recommend it tion with 

than could be advanced by Japan, practically dated ^^^' 

from the foundation of the present reigning dynasty of Korea 

500 years ago. It was under the patronage of the Ming 



198 \^ KOREA 

Emperors that^'^xTaijo, a soldier of fortune, raised himself 
to the Korean throne/ and established a Com-t and capital at 
Soulj which till 1894 faithfully reproduced the Chinese 
(pharacteristics of that epoch. When the Japanese invaded 
the peninsula from 1592 to 1598, the Chinese defended it 
with as much energy as though it were part of their own 
territories, and ultimately expelled the intruders. Subse- 
quently, on their way to China, the Manchu conquerors 
devastated and exacted an even more humiliating sub- 
mission from Korea, which till recent events was never 
surrendered, and was punctiliously enforced by the suzerain 
Power, While Hamel was in Korea, 1653-1 666, he testifies 
to the constant visits of the representative of the ' Great 
Cham,' and to the complete humility of the Korean 
Government. Annually a Tribute Mission wended its 
way by land from Soul to Peking, conveying the specified 
tribute,^ and receiving in return the Calendar, which it 
was the imperial prerogative to prepare, and the mark of 
vassalage to receive. In the succeeding century the tribute 
was gradually reduced, and the embassy appeared at times 
to dwindle into a ceremonial function, carrying presents in 
return for the permission to trade at the frontier, rather 
than tokens of political submission. Nevertheless, during 
this epoch a violent disturbance took place if there was the 
slightest omission of prescribed deference ; and one Korean 
monarch was smartly fined for his omission of some punctilio. 
From the time of the Manchu invasion to the present day 
every King and Queen of Korea have received their patent 
of royalty from the Court at Peking ; ^ and the historical 

1 Its ingredients are stated by Dallet (vol. i. p. 15) ; but it is long since 
tliey were scrupulously exacted. 

- M. Scherzer has translated into French and published in Recucil 
W Itiniraires et cle Voyages clans I'Asie Ccntrale et Vextreme Orient (1878) 
the diary of the principal Chinese Envoy who was sent from Peking to ' 
invest the present Queen of Korea in 186G. 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 199 

tutelary position of China continued up till the war to be 
vindicated in the following manner. 

In addition to the Imperial investitui*e, and to the annual 
despatch of the Tribute Mission from Soul, which was still 
maintained — although a practical and mercantile 
aspect was lent to the proceeding by its being gyj^ences 
utilised for the export to China by the Chung In of Korean 
^ 1 T^ . 1 • /> 1 • vassalage. 

oi the Kmg s red ginseng — the name or the reign- 
ing monarch of Korea was also given to him by China, and 
the era specified in Korean Treaties was that of the accession, 
not of the King, but of his Suzerain the Emperor. The King 
of Korea was not allowed to wear the Imperial yellow. When 
the Imperial Commissioners arrived from Peking, he was re- 
quired to proceed outside of his capital in order to receive 
them, the chief Commissioner being of higher rank in the 
Chinese official hierarchy than himself; and I have previously 
spoken of the now destroyed ornamental archway outside the 
west gate of Soul, at which the vassal prince received the 
envoys of his Suzerain. When any notable events occurred 
in the Court at Peking they were communicated to the 
vassal Court, and were the cause of a respectful message 
either of condolence or of congratulation from the latter. 
Similarly, if any death occurred among the leading members 
of the Royal Family at Soul, an official intimation of the fact 
was sent to Peking. 

When the late Queen Dowager of Korea died in 1890, the 
King deputed a mission at once to report the fact to the 
Emperor ; and, in petitioning the latter to dis- 
pense with the ordinary ceremonial of a return ^^^q ° „ 
mission to convey the condolences of the Suzerain, Dowager 
because of the difficulty that would be experi- 
enced by Korea in consequence of her financial embarrass- 
ment in carrying out all the prescribed ceremonies — he 



200 KOREA 

made the following statement of his position vis-a-vlf with 
China : — 

' Our counti-y is a small kingdom and a vassal State of China^ to 
which the Emperor has shown his graciousness from time im- 
memorial. Our Government was enabled to survive tlie political 
troubles of 1882 and 1884 through the assistance received from the 
Throne, which secured for our country peace and tranquillity. 
Since His Majesty has been good enough to confer these favours 
upon us^ we should make known to him whatever M'e desire ; and 
whatever we wisli we trust that he may allow, as to an infant con- 
fiding in the tender mercies of its parents.' 

These compliments, however, did not induce the Suzerain 
to forgo one tittle of his traditional rights ; although he so 
far yielded to the Korean plea of poverty as to permit his 
Commissioners to travel by sea to Chemulpo, instead of over- 
land, thereby greatly reducing the cost of their entertain- 
ment. An account of the minute and elaborate ceremonies 
observed on both sides was afterwards published with evident 
design by the Secretary to the Imperial Commissioners.^ 
The latter, it appears, among other marks of condescension, 
suggested the omission from the programme of the state 
banquets, music, and jugglery, with which it was usual to 
entertain them. "^ Their motive for this suggestion was to 
show their consideration fc^r Korean impecuniosity.' They 
also declined to receive parting presents from the King, at 
which the latter 'felt very grateful, and at the same time 
regretted the fact.' When all was over the King sent a 
memorial to the Emperor, thanking him for his graciousness. 
'The sentiments of this memorial — in their sincerity and 
importance — are beyond expression in words, demonstrating 
that China's manifold graciousness towards her dependencies 
is increasing with the times. The Emperor's consideration 

1 JVotes on the Imperial Chinese Mission to Corea in 1890. Shanghai, 
1892. 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 201 

for his vassal State, as evinced by his thoughtfuhiess in 
matters pertaining to the Mission, is fathomless. How 
admirable and satisfactory ! And how glorious ! ' 

Such is the technical and official expression of the suze- 
rainty of China that was observed until July 1894, and such 
were the evidences of the indisputable reality of that re- 
lationship. Of even greater importance is it to trace the 
extent to which in recent years it had been accompanied by 
practical domination of Korean statecraft — a subject which 
brings us into immediate acquaintance with the diplo- 
matic indecision of China, as well as with her great latent 
strength. 

Up to the time of the massacre of the French missionaries ^ 
in Korea in 1866 the claim of Korean independence had 
never seriously been made. At that date it was 
advanced, of all people in the world, by the ^||f^^" °' 
Chinese themselves. Anxious to escape re- policy. 
sponsibility for the act, as well as the irksome (ji^tion" 
duty of either paying an indemnity themselves or 
extorting it from their vassal, when M. de Bellonet, the 
French Charge d' Affaires, inquired of the Tsungli Yamen 
what he was to do, the latter disowned Korea altogether, 
aii'1 left the Frenchman to publish a ridiculous manifesto to 
Prince Kung, in which he took upon himself to announce in 
advance the deposition of the Korean Sovereign. Similarly 
when, in J^7l, the American Expedition, under Admiral 
Rodgers, proposed to sail against Korea to demand repara- 
tion 4"or the loss of the General Sherman and the murder 
of its crew on Korean shores in 1 866, and to force a treaty 
upon the Korean Court, it was again wdth the connivance of 
the Chinese Government that the project was undertaken. 
Finally, when in 1876 the Japanese, before sending an ex- 
pedition to Korea with a similar object, applied for in- 



ZH 



202 * KOREA 

formation to Peking in advance, a third time came the 
disclaimer of China, which is said on this occasion to have 
even been committed to paper. This was a policy of 
Repudiation, and was China's first inconsistency. 

Discovering her mistake, and realising that the foreigner, 

having once been allowed to meddle with Korea propria 

motu, could not be permanently excluded from 

2. Ne\\- closer relations, she then tried to repair her 

tralisation. ' ^ 

error by encouraging the various Powers to enter 
into Treaty relations with Korea on an independent basis, 
hoping, apparently, that the mutual jealousies of all would 
preclude the ascendency of any one. Commodore Sliufeldt,. 
an American naval officer, who in _L8jS7 had been sent upon 
a futile mission to Korea after the loss of the General 
Shemnan, being in Tientsin in 1881, was utilised by Li 
Hung Chang as the first instrument of this nevv policy. The 
American Treaty, intended to serve as a pattern for its 
successors, is said to have been drafted by the Viceroy him- 
self; and it was with the escort of a Chinese squadron that 
the Commodore presented himself at the mouth of the_ Han. 
Simultaneously the Viceroy wrote a letter to the Tai Wen 
Kun, strongly urging upon the Korean Government the 
signature of treaties with the foreign Powers as the sole 
means of continued security and independence for the 
threatened kingdom. Under these conditions the American 
Treaty was signed in 1882, and the Treaties with Great 
Britain and Germany in 1883; the first Bntish. draft Treaty^ 
which was framed by Admiral Willes in 1882 qii_the model 
of the American, being superseded by the more liberal 
instrument negotiated with great ability and concluded 
by Sir Harry Parkes in the following year. 

Now the first article of the Japanese Treaty of 1876 had 
opened with these words : — ' Chosen, being an independent 
State, enjoys the same sovereign rights as does Japan.' Con- 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 203 

scions of the serious significance of this admission, China, in 

recomniending the additional foreign Treaties, now sought to 

ffuard herself by a statement of her own position. ^ 

* -^ ^ Terms 

The American Treaty, when first drafted, contained of the 

a clause which ran as follows : — ' Korea has always 
been tributaiy toXhina, and this is admitted by the President 
of the United States ' ; but ' The Treaty shall be permanently 
regarded as having nothing to do therewith/ This absurd 
contrad iction was of course expunged by the Washington 
Government, who, being invited to conclude a treaty with 
Korea, naturally insisted upon treating Korea as an indepen- 
dent State. Accordingly in the American, as in the British 
and subsequent foreign Treaties, the King of Korea is 
throughout regarded (though not actually described) as an 
independent Sovereign ; and provisions are made for the 
customary diplomatic representation, familiar in the case of 
Powers negotiating upon an equal basis, of each of the High 
Contracting Parties at the Court of the other. Not to be 
circumvented, however, China insisted upon the King of 
Korea sending the following despatch to the President of 
the United States, prior to the actual conclusion of the 
treaty; and facsimiles of the same have since been trans- 
mitted to the Sovereigns of each of the remaining Treaty 
Powers at the corresponding juncture : — 

' The' King of Korea acknowledg-es that Korea is a tributary of 
China ; but iu regard to both iiiternal administration and foreign 
intercourse it enjoys complete independence. Now, being about 
to establish Treaty relations between Korea and the United States 
of America on terms of equality, the King of Korea, as an 
independent monarch, distinctly undertakes to carry out the 
'^.articles contained in the Treaty, irrespective of any matters 
affecting the tributary relations subsisting between Korea and 
China, with which the United States of America liave no concern. 
Having appointed officials to deliberate upon and settle tlie Treaty, 
the King of Korea considers it his duty to address this despatch to 
the President of tlie United States. ' 



204. KOREA 

It will, I think, be conceded that a more strictly illogical 
State-paper than the above was never penned, and that a 
more incongruous or cont radictory position was never taken 

, up. The King of Korea acknowledges his vassalage to 

I Chiiia; but in the same breath pronounces his complete 
independence both in the administration of his own country 
and in foreigrL relations. In what, then, we may ask, does 
his vassalage consist ? He describes himself simultaneously 
as a tributary and as an independent monarch. So double- 
faced a portent, so complex a phenomenon, has neither 
parallel nor precedent in international law. If he is a 
vass al, he has no business to be making treaties, or to be 
sending and receiving envoys on a footing of equality. If 
he is iijdependent, why does he declare himself a feudatory? 

Such was the irrational position in which China, by her 

policy of an attempted neutralisation of Korea, landed both 

herself and the vassal State. The full consequences 

t^ues ion ^^ YiQY attitude were clearly manifested when, a 

or envoys. -^ ' 

few years later, Korea proposed to carry out her 
initial prerogative of sending duly accredited envoys to the 
foreign Courts who were already represented at Soul. The 
Viceroy Li, who had in the meantime sensibly tightened the 
reins, was consulted ; and once more seeking to recover the 
ground which had been technically abandoned, he attached 
conditions to the proposed appointments which, strictly 
regarded, were, if possible, even more anomalous than the 
original paradox. The Korean Envoy, on arrival at his 
destination, was to report himself to the Chinese Representa- 
tive there, and to be introduced by him to the Foreign 
Minister of the State. On all public occasions he was to 
yield precedence to the Chinese Minister, and he was 
invariably to consult and take the advice of the latter. 
Here was the same contradiction in terms in a more pro- 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 205 

nounced shape. If the King of Korea was a vassal, he had 
no business to be sending representatives at all ; if he was 
an independent monarch, China had no business to interfere 
with hiiTi. Either his envoys were private individuals or 
they were diplomatic representatives. If they were the 
former, no question of precedence could arise ; if they were 
the latter, they were subject to the normal regulations of 
diplomatic etiquette. For some weeks the President of the 
United States, naturally somewhat bewildered, kept the 
Korean Envoy at Washington waiting for his audience ; but 
when the common-sense view of the question prevailed 
against the quibbles concocted in self-defence by the 
Chinese Government, and the Envoy was received, without 
any reference to the Chinese Minister, as the representative 
of an independent Sovereign, Li Hung Chang was very 
wroth with His Majesty of Korea, who for his part returned 
the stereotyped reply that the offending envoy had exceeded 
his instructions. However this might be, his brother-minister, 
who had been accredited to the Courts of Petersburg, Berlin, 
Paris, and London, never got beyond Hongkong ; so that 
the European Foreign Offices were saved from a repetition 
of the same inconvenient wrangle. 

Before the dispute about the envoys arose, China, not yet 
alive to the initial error that had led her to authorise the 

Treaties, had been tempted into a repetition of ^ 

^ Question 

the same weakness, on an even larger scale, by of troops 
the Convention, already referred to as concluded 
at Tientsin in 1885 between herself and Japan. If China 
was the suzerain Power, she had the same right to march 
troops into Soul, in the event of disturbance, as the Indian 
Government has, for instance, to order British regiments in a 
similar emergency to Hyderabad — whilst Japan had no 
corresponding right whatsoever ; and any agreement by 



206 KOREA 

China with a second Power involving a surrender of that 
right was to derogate from her own pretensions. If China 
was not the suzerain Power, how could she claim any right, 
but that which war confers upon any belligerent strong 
enough to exercise it, to send troops to Korea at all ? 

If, however, on the field of diplomacy, where she is ordin- 
arily supposed to be so clever, but where I think I have 
shown that in the case of Korea she has always 

3. lac ica i^ggjj tackinff to and fro between opposite extremes, 
sovereignty. ° J^^ ' 

China had been more timid or less far-sighted 
than Japan, she had to a great extent atoned for her dis- 
cordant policy by a very practical assertion of sovereignty in 
Soul itself. When the rebellion broke out there in 1882 
and the King appealed to Li Hung Chang for help, the latter 
responded by at once sending a number of ironclads, and 4000 
troops, the bulk of whom remained in a permanent camp 
outside the city for neai-ly three years. He compelled the 
Korean Government to accept the Japanese demands with 
a quite unusual alacrity ; and effectively nipped all antago- 
nism in the bud by instructing the Chinese commander. Ma 
Kien Chung, to invite the Tai Wen Kun to dinner, to pop 
him into a sedan-chair, and carry him down to the coast, 
whence he was deported straight to China and intei'ned for 
three years. Again it was Li Hung Chang whom the dis- 
consolate King was obliged to petition for the restoration of 
his troublesome parent, and who allowed the old intriguer to 
go back. When the Treaty Ports were opened, the same 
statesman took good care to reserve the Customs service for 
Chinese hands; and in the summer of 1892 the Bean 
question with Japan was only settled by his intervention and 
by a Chinese loan to Korea, the security for which was to be 
the Customs Revenue — an ingenious frustration of one of 
the pet projects of Japan. When in 1885 negotiations were 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 207 

opened with Great Britain about the evacuation of Port 
Hamilton, it was Chin a^ and not Korea, who took up the 
pen. Until 1893 the only overland telegraphic connection 
which the Viceroy allowed to Korea outside of her own 
dominions was a junction with the Chinese wire to Peking, 
and when the Russian demand for a connection with Vladi- 
vostok could no longer be refused, he wisely backed it up 
by offering to construct and to officer the line with Chinese 
material and men. 

Finally, in Sou l itself eveiy one of the Fore ign Diplomatic-^ 
Corps, though he gaily proclaimed himself the representa- 
tive of his sovereign at an allied and equal Court, 
knew_j2grfectly well who was the real master. Chinese 
The Cliinese Resident, who was a man of great ^^^^ ^" ' 
energy and ability, named lQian_„Sllili^ Kai, \ £as in the 
position of a JVIayor of the Palace, without whose knowledge 
nothing, and without whose consent little was done. Alone 
among the foreign representatives, he was entitled to sit_ 
w hen r eceived in audience by the King. His establishment 
and guard and display in the streets were among the sights 
of Soul. The various champions of the academic theory of 
Korean independence have one by one disappeared from 
the stage, but the Chinese Resident remained. Time after 
time he had been reappointed, as was the Marquis Tseng 
in Europe ; and even after his promotion to the Taotaiship 
of Wenchow in China had been formally gazetted in 1893, 
it was still felt that he could not be spared from Soul, and 
he stayed on, until the war had irretrievably shattered the 
structure to the building of which he had devoted such 
pains. He is one of the few Chinese I have met who 
impressed me with frankness as well as with power. 

Judged, therefore, by its results prior to the war, it might 
be said that the policy of Li Hung Chang, however little 



208 KOREA* 

shaped by the canons either of logic or of international 
custom, was not unsuccessful. Each logical faux pas was in 

, .^ ,. the end retrieved by some practical advantage. 

Justification j i o 

of Li Hung If he declined to punish Korea in the first place 
for her attacks uponmissionaries and foreigners, 
he thereby escaped responsibility for her cruelties. If he 
allowed Korea, a vassal State of China, to make Treaties 
with foreign Powers, he at the same time vindicated his 
right to appear as go-between — a capacity in which Japan 
was most anxious to figure. By these means he might claim 
to have enlisted the interest of foreign Powers as a set-off 
to the only two rivals whom China seriously fears in Korea, 
viz. Japan and Russia. Finally, having surrendered some 
of the technical symbols of suzerainty, he offered a very 
practical demonstration of the remainder at all moments of 
crisis ; and by judicious advances of money obtained a firm 
hold upon Korean administration. How futile, however, 
such a policy was destined to be, when, in the face of a 
serious emergency, it had nothing to lean upon save the 
incredible rottenness of Chinese administration, the events 
of the past year were required to expose. 

Upon this scene Jlussia^ having been brought by the 
Chinese concessions of 1858-1860 ^ down to the River 

„ . Tiumen, and having thereby become coterminous 

Connection o ^ 

with with Korean territory on the north, appeared for 

the first time as an_ actor about thirty years ago. 

At her maritime harbour and base of Vladivostok she is but 

1 Mouravieff, the Russian Governor-General of Siberia, taking advantage 
of the absorjition of China in her impending war with Great Britain, and of 
the gross ignorance of the Manchu frontier officials, persuaded the latter to 
sign the Treaty of Aigun in 1858, ceding to Russia the Amur province. In 
1860, before the war was concluded and while the Emperor was still a 
fugitive, Ignatieff went to Peking, and by a further Treaty from tlie 
terrified Government got the Primoi'sk jlrovince [i.e. all the territory lying 
to the east of the Ussuri, and 600 miles of sea-coast) as well. Never was a 
fine dominion so cheaply or more cleverly won. 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 209 

little removed from the Korean frontier, across which her 
officers and agents have pursued their surveys far and wide 
(the only decent map of Korea, before the war, being one 
that emanated from Russian sources), while the Koreans 
have been encouraged to develop a corresponding familiarity 
by invitations to come and settle in Russian villages across 
the border. Here they were utilised at first as squatters 
and colonists in the practically uninhabited country, later 
on as farmers and graziers and woodcutters. In the towns 
labour was found for them and schools were opened for their 
children, in which the latter were brought up in the Russian 
faith, supplying, as they grew to manhood, a native pasto- 
rate to evangelise their fellow-countrymen. In 1885 there 
were said to be 20,000 Koreans in Russian territory, and ' 
the figures are probably now much higher, there having 
been a steady exodus across the frontier ever since the war. 
It was through the agency of these volunteer emigrants and 
naturalised citizens that Russia first opened her campaign of 
political intrigue in the peninsula. 

The general territorial acquisitiveness of Russia at the 
expense of weaker neighbours, her admitted desire for a 
naval marine in the Pacific, and the superior ad- 
vantages possessed by Korean harbours over the -, S?''^^^*^^ 
of J designs. 

more northerly port of Vladivostok, which is ice- 
bound for four months in the year, as well as the diplomatic 
tactics adopted by her representatives, have given universal 
credence in the East to the belief that Korea is regarded by 
Russia with a more than covetous eye. There is consider- 
able evidence in support of this hypothesis. It was during 
the Kulja dispute with China in 1880 that her unconcealed 
affection for the sheltered recesses of Port Lazareff^ (the 

1 At the outbreak of the recent war a Russian engineer who had been sent 
in 1886 to survej' and report upon Port Lazareff, wrote to the Novoe Vremya 

o 



210 KOREA 

plans for the seizure and fortification of which are said to 
have been long prepared) was first made use of as a diplo- 
matic menace, and is believed in consequence to have still 
further inclined the mind of Li Hung Chang towards the 
policy of the Korean Treaties. In 1884, while France was at 
war with China and was anxious to enlist the sympathy and 
alliance of Japan, the question of the price to be paid to the 
latter soon brought matters to a deadlock, when it was dis- 
covered that Russia would not let the opportunity slip of 
also doing a stroke of business in Korean waters. In 1884 
the Russians were said by many to have been at the bottom 
of the conspiracy and outbreak in Soul ; but I am not aware 
of the evidence upon which this is based. About the same 
time rumours, not without solid foundation, were circulated 
of a secret agreement between Russia and Korea, negotiated 
-by the German Adviser of the King, by which Russia was to 
reorganise the Korean army and to suppoi't the Korean 
claims to Tsushima,^ while Korea in return was to cede Port 
Hamilton ; and it was something more than rumour of the 
latter intention that induced the British Government to 
anticipate an impending Muscovite seizure by hoisting the 

that Port Lazareff itself was unsuited either for a commercial harbour or for 
a naval base ; but that sixty miles further north was a harbour named Port 
Shestakoff, formed by the island of Gontcharoff and the mainland, which 
could easily be defended and was admirably adapted to either purpose. The 
Russian Minister of Marine, who had himself visited the sjjot, reported in 
the same sense to his Government. 

1 Others said that Russia was to occupj' Tsushima herself — a course which 
the Novoe Vremiia urged upon the Government in a most unblushing article, 
and which possessed the charm of an historical jjrecedent. For in 1861 the 
main island was actually occupied for six months by the crew of the Russian 
frigate Possadnik, who hoisted the Russian flag, formed a small settlement 
ashore, and cultivated the soil. Sir R. Alcock, who was British Minister in 
Japan, sent Mr. Laurence Oliphant, then a member of the Legation, to find 
out what was going on. The latter reported to Admiral Sir J. Hope, who 
was in command of the neighbouring sqixadron, and who rej^resented to the 
Russian Admiral that he should he compelled to go to Tsushima himself and 
to stay there as long as did the Russians. The result was immediate evacua- 
tion. (Vide an article by Laurence Olijjhant in Bkickwood's Magazine^ 
Dec. 1885, and also Rolling Stone. ) 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 211 

British flag upon those islands. In 1886 a further plot for 
placing Korea under Russian protection was detected by the 
Chinese Resident. Four leading Korean officials were 
arrested and imprisoned, and subsequently admitted their 
complicity by flight. In 1886, however, China, furnished 
with a golden opportunity by the willingness of Great 
Britain to evacuate Port Hamilton, provided she could obtain 
guarantees that no other foreign Power would occupy it, 
scored her first genuine diplomatic triumph as regards Korea 
by extorting a distinct and official pledge from the Russian 
Government that under no circumstances would Russia 
occupy Korean territory. This pledge was alluded to with 



some pride in the conversation which/ 1 ^fenjoyed at Tientsin 
with th e ViceroyJL<i.Hung Chang. ButTan Englishman who re- 
members the official pledges as to Samarkand, and Khiva, and 
Merv, might be pardoned for preferring an attitude of more 
scepti cal reserve. This, however, was, for the time being, 
the cue to Russian official argument touching Korea, and has 
been followed more recently by the Novoe Vremyci, which 
acts as a sort of ballon d'essai for the schemes of the Russian 
General Staff, and which has gone so far as to reason against 
Russian annexation of Korea on the ground that the country 
is too thickly populated to admit of easy conquest, too 
different from Russia to render assimilation possible, and too 
poor to make the experiment remunerative. There is much 
to be said for this view ; and undoubtedly it cannot for some 
time be to the interest of Russia, with her Siberian Railway 
still unfinished, and with her military resources on the 
Manchurian border in no very forward condition, either of 
numbers or equipment, to involve herself in a warlike ad- 
venture at so great a distance from her base. On the other 
hand, she can hardly desire to have as her permanent neigh- 
bour, within a few hours' sail of Vladivostok, so pugnacious 
and aspiring a Power as Young Japan. 



212 KOREA 

The Russian appetite, if it be inflamed either by Korean 

attractions or by Korean weakness, or if it be piqued at 

having been temporarily anticipated by Japan, 

Ad interim ^^ therefore require to mortify itself for some 
plans. J ~\ J 

little time to come. In the meantime the tradi- 
tional methods of amicable influence can successfully be 
pursued. By a Commercial Convention concluded with 
Korea in 1888, the Korean land-frontier was opened to 
Russian traders ; a Korean market at the mouth of the 
Tiumen River was opened to Russian trade ; a lower rate of 
Customs dues was fixed for Russian land imports than for 
other foreign imports by sea ; and Russia secured the right 
to have agents, whatever that may mean, in the northern 
parts of Korea. She also made her contiguous frontier an 
excuse for communicating with her representative at 
Soul overland. In 1894, with a charming naivete, she in- 
vited permission of the Korean Government to found a 
Russian agricultural colony, for seven years only, within the 
Korean border. Russian^drill-instructors were more than 
once offered to the Korean army — a step with which the 
histories of Bokhara, Khiva, and Persia have rendered us 
familiar. An overland telegraphic connection between 
Korea and Russia was secured in 1893. A steam service 
between Korean ports and Vladivostok is being maintained 
by an ample subsidy from the Imperial Government. A 
Russian Consul has been appointed at Fusan, where there 
are no Russian subjects, and as yet next to no Russian 
trade. These are the recognised and more or less legitimate 
symptoms of Muscovite concern. In Korea itself, and I 
think also in Japan, an impression has long prevailed that 
they are only the forerunners of a movement which will 
not slacken till a Russian fleet is moored in Port Lazareff, 
and the Russian flag waves over Fusan ; and it must be 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 213 

admitted that the lessons of history are not unfavourable 
to such an hypothesis. Were an excuse at any time 
required, it would promptly be forthcoming in the military 
occupation of Korea by Japan, which, if long continued, 
would constitute'a violation both of Japanese pledges and 
of the alleged independence of Korea ; but the premature 
withdrawal of which would, on the other hand, be followed 
by complete social and political disoi'ganisation in the penin- 
sula. It is also to be remembered that the domination of 
Korea and the acquisition of an open port are capable of 
attainment by other methods than those of aggression upon 
the peninsula itself. There is a neighbouring Power possess- 
ing even more valuable territory and even more useful ports, 
whom recent experience has shown to be amenable to 
almost any degree of squeezing, if judiciously and firmly 
applied. 

The position of the remaining Powers may be briefly 
summarised. The pi'imary interest of Great Britain in 

Korea is as a market for an already considerable , . , 

•^ Attitude 

trade. Of far gi'eater moment, however, is the of Great 
secondary and contingent interest arising out of 
the political future. A country so welLprovided with 
h arbo urs which could both supply and shelter great flotillas, 
and so richly endowed with many potential sources of wealth, 
might involve a serious menace to British commerce and 
i ntere sts throughout the China seas, and even in the Pacific 
Ocean, if held by a hostile State. A Russian port and fleet, 
for instance, in the Gulf of Pechili would, in time of war, 
constitute as formidable a danger to British shipping in the 
YeJlow_Sea as they would to the metropolitan province and 
the capital of China. Permanent Russian squadrons at Port 
Lazareff and Fusan would convert her into the greatest naval 
Power in the Pacific. The balance of power in the Far East 



214 KOREA 

would be seriously jeopardised, if not absolutely overturned, 

by such a development ; and England is prohibited alike by 

her imperial objects and her commercial needs from lending 

her sanction to any such issue. 

The temporary occupation of Port Hamilton, an almost 

uninhabited group of islets forty miles from the southern 

coast of Korea, by the British fleet in 1885, was 

of Port dictated by the political necessities of that time, 

Hamilton bginff undertaken in order to anticipate a Russian 
m 1885. *= ^ 

seizure, and as an answer to the Russian aggression 

at Penjdeh, but was not subsequently persisted in — a retire- 
ment which, less for its own sake than for the possible use 
of continued occupation as a plea by others, was gladly 
welcomed both by China and Korea, and cemented the 
friendly relations between Great Britain and those States.^ 

1 Port Hamilton is formed by two large and one small island, called re- 
spectively Sodo, Sunodo, and Chuwen, or Observatory Island, belonging to 
the Nanhow groui^, thirty-eigbt miles from the north-east end of Quelpart. 
When occupied by the British they were found to contain a few villages and 
Korean officials. Lord Granville, in announcing the temporary occupation 
to China, expressed his readiness to come to an agreement with her on the 
matter, and to pay yearly to Korea any revenues derived from the islands. 
The Tsimgli Yamen, who in the meantime had been threatened with 
corresponding movements both by Russia and Japan, declined, and in- 
structed the Korean Government to protest — an action which Lord Granville 
endeavoured to meet by offering a yearly rent of £5000. In the meantime 
three British admirals successively reported that the jjort could not be safely 
held unless great exj^euse were incurred in fortification, and that in war a 
protecting squadron would be required to prevent its being shelled from 
without. After much correspondence. Lord Rosebery, in April 1886, offered 
to icetixe vrpon a guarantee being given by China against the occupation of 
Port Hamilton by any other Power, or upon the conclusion of an international 
agreement guarantying the integrity of Korea. A combination of these 
suggestions was ultimately adoj)ted ; and the Russian representative at 
Peking having given ' a most explicit guarantee ' that if the British evacuated 
Port Hamilton ' Rirssia would not occujjy Korean territory under any circum- 
stances whatsoever,' the British flag was hauled down in February 1887. 
(Vide China, No. 1, 1887.) This engagement has not been affected by the 
recent war, and was j)ronounced in the House of Commons in June 1894 to be 
in the opinion of the British Government still valid. The Korean Government 
in 1894 reasserted its authority over the islands by sending there as Governor 
an official of some distinction. 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 215 

In the negotiations that passed between the respective 
Governments it was obvious, indeed, that what China shrank 
from, and what Korea dreaded, was not the estabhshment 
of a British naval or coahng station, or even of a British 
maritime fortress in the mouth of the Sea of Japan, but 
the chance of a corresponding Russian movement in some 
neighbom-ing^ quarter ; and both Powers were grateful for 
a step which forced the hand of Russia, and compelled her 
to ffive a guarantee, which lent a renewed lease of life to 
the phantom of Korean ^integrity, and has so far saved the 
little kingdom from sudden or surreptitious deglutition at 
the hands of her formidable neighbour. The evacuation 
of Port Hamilton also showed that, while Great Britain is 
in terested in keeping out others from this Naboth^s vine- 
yard of the Far East, she has no reversionary desire for 
its possession herself, and is about as likely to seize or to 
annex Korea as she is to invade Belgium — a demonstration 
which was not merely grateful to China, but was also useful 
in allaying the phenomenal sensitiveness of Japan. 

The remaining Powers in Korea before the war, according 
to their political predilections or objects, were disposed 
to range themselves partly on the side of those 
who proclaimed, partly with those who dis- p^^gj-g 
couraged, the pretensions of Korean autonomy ; 
their attitude being generally ascertainable from the 
character and title of the diplomatic representation which 
they maintain at the Korean Court. France, of course, 
adopted the former line and deputed a Consul and 
Commissaire, claiming precedence of the British and 
German Consuls. Russia, her ally, was represented by 
a Charge d' A^aires. America appointed a Minister and 
vigorously encouraged the dream of Korean independence, 
as best qualified to provide employment for American 



216 KOREA 

dollars and brains. Germany sent a Consul and Com- 
missioner. Great Britain was and is technically repre- 
sented by a Minister Plenipotentiary, the Minister at 
Peking being simultaneously accredited, in virtue of the 
Treaty of 1883, to the King of Korea. Till 1893, how- 
ever, when Sir N, O^Conor went up to Soul and presented 
his letters of credence to the King, no visit of a British 
Minister had taken place since that date; and the Queen 
is ordinarily represented in Soul by a Consul-General, 
whose relatively subordinate position is the source of not 
unnatural vexation on the part of the Korean Govern- 
ment, as well as of misunderstanding among the Diplomatic 
Body. These absurd anomalies and disputes were a further 
but inevitable consequence of the illogical policy of the 
Treaties. 

Such was the position occupied by Korea in the summer 
of 1894 vis-d-vis with the more powerful nations with whom 

_,, the march of events had brought her into direct 

The carcase ° 

and the contact. She was confronted with the ill-sup- 

S3.P'1gS 

pressed cupidity of Russia, the mysterious latent 
force of China, the jealous and vainglorious interest of 
Japan. By herself she was quite incapable of successful 
resistance to any one of these three, though her statesmen 
were not deficient in the skill required to play off each 
against the other. Her intrinsic weakness was in reality 
her sole strength ; for had she been powerful enough to 
render her own alliance an appreciable weight in the scale, 
she might have been tempted to adopt a course of action 
thatj would have precipitated final absorption. Unfor- 
tunately for her, the conflict for which she supplied a 
convenient battle-ground, rather than a legitimate provoca- 
tion, was forced upon her by the tempers of her Asiatic 
neighbours, too highly charged to postpone any longer the 



^O^^/'^ek. dang „ ' jfj n \ -^ 

'UW 1.-1J mi J 1 ken. c 
■hang fr,„ *ir 1 is Ut> ff ^ rm__;«*,t^__P^^^iJ5^^^^ 







«0 



J-T yp 1 



//7 UcittUt 



la rlua^ '^ i5T <- u si* ' o-o -Bh\ or 

f\ i, At \ H » "' Koi f I 



rsi HaUs ^ 



-;^ ^ 



■5= />--^ '^ ° 






Pr Imperial 
ArcJupelago ^ 




Thai/CTh 



[[<.''^§^ Ct itl"^ tTiuSi*TJl -^J^^Si^j^ 



fc^^atk <to°'^'^P-^'^ j 



Kor e a XI. 
Ai c Ili p e 1 a 






Mary I? -• 






hen in ^ },a ip> 



K , = 
,1 rum J « r Ji^„.^ .^^ 



• P'? ci* 









^ ™™- J p 2 ij ] pj , 

l„ It,, ^--^ 11 AND ENVIRON 

\ I Ens'. M il 



I Rel-„ 

I I i Th.e Inipn^-ialPaloM- 

I 3 OiUerCaurt 

k »- Trmplf of &a.vtir^ 




1 luiy 






:= ^raagpi 1 ■ ■■■■ _J^:_- 









Iki 



^ 



-^^^r^r^'^ 



C.ffoto '^- 



TdkfL. 



lye. 






KcLjnirw 



ATchihuia, Omstai?^ A tb 



T.Tiglish Statute i&les 



THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF KOREA 217 

inevitable explosion. My awiL.conyiction, expressed in my 
first edition, that the only hope of continued -jiational 
existence for Korea lay in the maintenance of her con- 
nection with China has not, in my opinion, been falsified 
by the issue of fhe campaign, since the independence, 
which was the nominal pretext of the latter, and is now 
claimed as its result, is a phantom which not even the 
interested auspices of Japan have so far persuaded to 
materialise, and which will assuredly be the source of 
further trouble in the future. 



CHINA 

'And so he passed with his folk, and wan the Lend of 
Cathay, that is the Grettest Kyngdom of the World ' 

Sir John Maundeville : Travels 



CHAPTER VIII 

thp: country and (.^apital of china 

Minseque 
Murorum ingeutes, sequataque machina ccelo. 

Virgil : ^neid iv. 88, 89. 

A MORE singular contrast can scarcely be found than is 

presented by the transition from Korea to China. From 

romantic mountain-scenery the traveller passes, 

at least on his way up to Peking, to flat and . '^^u-' '°" 
•' ^ <^' to China. 

featureless plains. He exchanges the miniature 
Korean stallion, which rarely advances beyond a walk, for 
the sturdy China pony, upon which he will with ease cover 
seven miles an hour, or a day's march of forty miles. In 
place of the confined and filthy Korean hostelry, he will 
sleep with comparative comfort in the ample surroundings 
of a Chinese inn. He has left behind the most supine and 
spiritless of the peoples of the Far East, and sees about 
him the frugal, hard-limbed, indomitable, ungracious race, 
who oppose to all overtures from the outside the sullen 
resistance of a national character self-confident and stolid, 
a religious and moral code of incredible and all-absorbing 
rigour, and a governing system that has not varied for 
ages, and is still wrapped in the mantle of a superb and 
paralysing conceit. Most travellers deplore the transition 
from Japan to China as one from sweetness to squalor, from 
beauty to ugliness, froin civilisation to barbarism, from 
warmth of welcome to cheerless repulsion. And yet I am 



222 CHINA 

not sure that a truer estimate is not formed of the pro- 
digious strength of Chinese character and custom by the 
ability to contrast them with the captivating external 
attributes of Japan ; whilst a check is placed upon the too 
indiscriminate laudation of the latest recruit to civilisation 
by the spectacle of a people who have lived and would be 
content^ if we permitted them^ to go on living without any 
contact with the West at all, and who think what we call 
truth error^ our progress weakness^ and our fondest ideals 
an abomination. Perhaps as a stepping-stone between the 
two, akin to yet also profoundly dissimilar from either, 
Korea supplies a link that may at once break and lend 
point to the abruptness of the contrast. 

The journey from the coast of the Gulf of Pechili up to 
the capital seems to have won an undeserved reputation 

for painfulness in travellers' writings. It is true 
Tientsin. , , . . i. . . ^ 

that the visitor may lie tossing tor one, two, or 

more days on the mud-bar outside the Taku forts at the 

mouth of the Peiho — in which position he may picture the 

plight of the British gunboats, which, on that fatal day in 

1859, rolled helplessly in precisely the same plight under 

the pitiless pounding of the enemy's guns. But, once 

landed, he may now avoid the further delays of the 

serpentine river-course to Tientsin by taking the railway 

train that runs thrice daily to that city ; while the sights 

of Tientsin itself are, to any but those who have never 

before seen a great Chinese centre of population, very 

rapidly exhausted. To the ordinary European traveller 

almost its sole interest lies in the fact that it was the 

scene of the famous massacre of 1870, an eloquent testimony 

to which still survives in the ruined towers and facade of 

the French Catholic Cathedral on the right bank of the 

Peiho. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 223 

To all who have followed the course of Chinese history 
during the last quarter of a century, Tientsin will present 
the additional interest of being the residence of 
the foremost living Chinese statesman, the Vice- j.ov\i^^^' 
roy Li Hung Chang. First made famous by his Hung 
conduct and generalship during the Taiping 
Rebellion, his connection in which with the late General 
Goi'don is w^ell known, he succeeded Tseng Kwo Fan (the 
elder of the two Tsengs, and father of the ambassador) as 
Governor-General of Kiangsu in 1862, and became Viceroy of 
Kukuang in 1867. In 1870 he settled at Tientsin, where 
he succeeded the same eminent statesman as Viceroy of 
the metropolitan province of Chihli, and was entrusted with 
the delicate negotiations with England, arising out of the 
Margary murder, that resulted in the Chefoo Convention of 
1876. Now for nearly twenty years the Senior Grand 
Secretary of State, the first Chinese subject who has ever 
been promoted to that dignity,^ he also combines in his 

1 The Grand Secretariat, or Nei Ko, which was the Supreme Council, or 
Cabinet, of the Chinese Empire under the Ming dynasty, is tlie senior of the 
two bodies which intervene between the Sovereign and the Administrative 
Departments in the Chinese reyime, and consists theoretically of two Manchu 
and two Chinese Grand Secretaries, with their assistants and staffs. It now 
forms the Imperial Chancerv, or Court of Archives, and admission to one 
of its superior posts confers the highest distinction attainable by a Chinese 
official, although entailing little more than nominal duties. For purposes 
of actual administration it has been superseded by the second body, viz. the 
Chun Chi Chu, or Grand Coiuicil, which is the acting Privy Council of the 
Sovereign, in whose presence its members dailj- transact the business of 
State, in a hall of the Imperial Palace at Peking, at the inconceivable hour 
of four o'clock in the morning. It is a Cabinet composed of Ministers in the 
capital holding other substantive offices. Their number is undetermined, 
but for many years past did not exceed five. During the war with Japan 
it was raised to seven. Its Presidential chair, which was successively 
occupied by Prince Kung and Prince Chun, and is now again filled by the 
former, is practically equivalent to the post of Prime Minister. Two or three 
members of the Tsungli Yamen, or Foreign Board, generally hold seats in 
this Council, and all its members enjoy the technical right of audience with 
the Emperor. For a more minute account of the theoretical organisation 
and functions of the two Councils, vide Professor R. K. Douglas's excellent 
recentlj' publislied work, Societji in China. 



224 



CHINA 



person the viceregal functions above mentioned, as well as 
those of Senior Tutor to the Heir Apparent (who is not yet 




LI HUNG CHANG 



in existence). Earl of the First Rank, Superintendent of 
the Northern Ports, and Imperial Commissioner for Foreign 
Trade. \s such he not merely divides with the late 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 225 

Marquis Tseng the distinction of being the most remarkable 
figure whom his country has produced during the last thirty 
years, but he has for long filled the part of a sort of unofficial 
Foreign Minister and confidential adviser to his Sovereign, 
without whose knawledge nothing, however unimportant, 
takes place, and without whose advice nothing important 
is done. His Chinese extraction and his commanding 
position have sometimes suggested to others the hypothesis 
of a rising against the Manchu occupants of the throne, and 
of a new Chinese dynasty, founded by Li Hung Chang 
himself; and it is even said that he has at different times, in 
troublesome crises, been sounded upon the matter both by 
England and by France. There has never, however, been 
any reason to suspect his loyalty, which, if tempted, has 
not been seriously impugned ; and he has long remained 
the strongest pillar of the Imperial throne. Many times 
has the Viceroy, who is now seventy-two years of age, 
petitioned to be relieved from the responsibilities, official 
and supernumerary, of his great position, but on each 
occasion has appeared an Imperial Rescript, commanding 
him in complimentary terms to continue the discharge of 
duties from which he could not be spared. During the 
recent war, after the shameful collapse of the Chinese naval 
and land forces, for which he was held to be largely re- 
sponsible, he was temporarily disgraced ; and the various 
phases of his official degradation and reinstatement followed 
each other with a kaleidoscopic rapidity that must, except 
to any one versed in the ways of Chinese officialdom, have 
been sufficiently bewildering. As soon, however, as it 
became necessary to send an Imperial Plenipotentiary to 
Japan to negotiate the terms of peace, it was once more 
found that the veteran was the only man ; and, though 
he emerges from the terrible ordeal of the war, to use a 

P 



226 CHINA 

colloquial phrase, as only 'the best of a bad lot/ he has^ 
ostensibly at any rate, recovered his former position, and con- 
tinues to offer to the foreigner the interesting spectacle of the 
one Chinaman who with the ingrained characteristics of his 
countrymen combines a diplomatic astuteness, and a respect 
for the externals of reform that are variously described as 
admirable and deceiving. According to the latest news, 
he has been relieved of his Viceroyalty of Chihli and his 
Imperial Commissionership, and has been ordered to Peking 
to take up the functions of Head of the Imperial Chancery. 
Whether this is intended as a compliment or the reverse, no 
one outside the Palace at Peking can as yet say. 

At Tientsin I was honoured by the Viceroy with an inter- 
view, to which I look back with the greatest pleasure. The 

Viceroyal Yamen is a building in the official 
Interview. n i ■ i 

quarters oi which, at any rate, there is neither 

distinction nor beauty. Carried in green palanquins to the 
gate, we there descended and passed through one or more 
dingy anterior courts, small, squalid, and coarsely painted, 
to an inner room, where seats had been placed round a long 
table. The Viceroy entered, a tall and commanding figure, 
considerably over six feet in height, dressed in a long grey 
silk robe, with a black silk cape over his shoulders. Taking 
his seat at the head of the table, the Viceroy, with the aid 
of a competent interpreter, commenced a discussion, mainly 
upon contemporary politics, which lasted for over an hour. 
He continually put the most searching and ingenious 
questions ; being renowned, indeed, for his faculty of 
' pumping ' others about what he desires to ascertain, with- 
out emitting the least corresponding drop of moisture 
himself. While speaking or listening his small, black, 
restless eyes follow keenly every movement of the features, 
A big moustache overhangs and partially conceals his mouth, 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 227 

and a sparse Chinese beard adorns his chin. His hair is 
quite grey and is turning white. Speaking of England, he 
wished particularly to know whether the recent change of 
Government involved a change in foreign policy^ or whether 
Mr. Gladstone might be expected to pursue the same line 
as Lord Salisbury. Upon this point the nomination of Lord 
Rosebery as Foreign Secretaiy enabled me to give the 
Viceroy consolatory assurances. Discussing the tortuous 
policy which had been followed in relation to the Chinese 
vassal State which I had just left, he admitted that Korea 
had been ill-advised, and even allowed that ' there had been 
ill-advisers in China also.' The Pamirs and Lhasa were 
the remaining subjects of our conversation, and the Viceroy 
produced one of the Royal Geographical Society's small 
maps of the former region. He has subsequently sent to 
me the photograph with an autograph inscription that 
accompanies the text. 

From Tientsin the traveller has the choice of covering 
the distance that separates him from Peking either by an 
agreeable two days' ride of eighty miles,^ or by a 
house-boat on the river, which, by alternate sail- ^"p"^^ 
ing, poling, rowing, and tracking, should convey 
him to his destination in something between two and three 
days. 2 

The scenery, consisting as it does of a vast expanse of 
alluvial mud, not uncommonly under water, and relieved 
only by mud villages of greater or less size, may strike the 
new-comer as repulsive. But a little deeper insight will 

^ First day — three hours' ride to Yangtsim (inn) 20 miles ; ditto to Hoh- 
Hsi-wu (inn), 20 miles. Second day — three hours' ride to half-waj^ village, 
Hsiu-ho (inn), 20 miles ; ditto to Peking, 20 miles. Total, 80 miles. 

2 It is best, of course, to ride up and sail down ; since the upward joiirney 
by river sometimes, with an unfavourable wind, occupies from four to five 
days. The return journey can be shortened by riding from Peking as far as 
Matou, 28 miles, and picking up the house-boat there. 



228 CHINA 

show him in these self-same villages, and in the wide-tilled 
plains about them — countless replicas of which I have seen 

during both my visits to China — the evidences of 
Chinese ^^ agricultural contentment and prosperity that 

contrast favourably with the more picturesque 
surroundings of village life in neighbouring countries. The 
main street of each village is frequently sunk considerably 
below the level of the houses, and is apt to be filled with 
the ebb of an unexhausted inundation. The houses are 
humble, but neither small nor poverty-stricken. Artificial 
privies, made of reeds, are frequently erected outside, with 
a view to economise all available manure. The village 
threshing-floor, rolled to a compact and level hardness, lies 
near by. The shops exhibit at least as many commodities 
as in an English village of corresponding size. Women and 
children abound, the former neatly dressed and coiffured, 
the latter dirty but cheerful. Upon a wage of less than five 
shillings a month the men can find adequate subsistence. A 
great variety of animals in good condition— mules, donkeys, 
ponies, and oxen — are employed either for tillage or burden. 
The eating-houses and tea-shops are filled with noisy crowds, 
and the inns are frequent and commodious. The people in- 
habiting such a locality are liable to occasional and appalling 
visitations of flood, pestilence, or famine. But, these risks 
excepted, their lives are probably as happy, their condition 
as prosperous, and their contentment as well assured as 
those of the rural population in any European country. The 
taxation imposed upon them is only nominal. The obliga- 
tions which they stupidly incur to pawnshops or usurers, in 
pursuit either of the national vice of gambling or of other 
forms of extravagance, are a greater burden upon them than 
is the hand of the State. So little fear is there of disturb- 
ance that the force behind the provincial government is in 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 229 

most cases ridiculously small. In China there are no police ex- 
cept the unpaid hangers-on of the i/ame7is, assisted, in the event 
of a riot, by any soldiery in the neighbourhood. Life may be 
uneventful; but so it is to the peasant in every land. He 
usually demands little beyond the means of livelihood, freedom 
from exaction, and the peaceful enjoyment of his modest wage. 
From such surroundings, which, however respectable, are 
too unlovely to be idyllic, the stranger rides into the din 
and dust, the filth and foulness, the venerable and 
measureless bewilderment of Peking.^ Unique, to"p^]^^^p. 
and of its kind unequalled, is the impression 
produced by this great city of over three-quarters of a 
million souls ^ upon even the seasoned traveller. He may 
have seen the drab squalor of Bokhara and Damascus, have 
tasted the odours of Canton and Soul, and heard the babel 
uproar of Baghdad and Isfahan ; but he has never seen dirt, 
piled in mountains of dust in the summer, spread in oozing 
quagmires of mud after the rains, like that of Peking ; his 
nostrils have never been assailed by such myriad and assorted 
effluvia ; and the drums of his ears have never cracked be- 
neath such a remorseless and dissonant concussion of sound. 
These are the first impressions of the stranger ; they appear, 
in a great many cases, to be the abiding association of the 
resident. If, however, a man can succeed in detaching 
himself from the sensuous medium upon which such constant 
and violent attacks are made from without, he will find in 
Peking much both to excite his astonishment and to arrest 
his concern. In the mighty walls, in some parts fifty feet 

^ Peking is written and pronounced by the Chinese Pei-chang, and signifies 
Northern Capital, just as Nan-king signifies Southern Capital. 

2 This seems to be the most reasonable estimate, the pojDulation having 
greatly dwindled in modern times. In the seventeenth century the Jesuit 
Grimaldi estimated the total at 16,000,000 ! Du Halde reckoned 3,000,000, 
which numbers were also given to Lord Macartney in 1793. Klaproth named 
1,300,000. 



230 CHINA 

high and well-nigh as broad, covering a rectangular circum- 
ference of twenty-one miles/ and rising skywards with 
colossal symmetry of outline, save where their vertical profile 
is broken by huge projecting bastions_, or their horizontal 
edge is interrupted by enormous castellated keeps or gate- 
towers, he observes a sight without parallel in the modern 
world — one which, more than any relic of the past that I 
have ever seen, recalls that Babylon whose stupendous 
battlements were the wonder of antiquity, the mystery of 
our childhood, and the battleground of our academic days. 
Shrouded behind these monumental defences, the gates of 
which are still opened and closed with the sun, just as they 
were in the Cambaluc of Marco Polo, of which this modei-n 
Peking is both the lineal heir and the faithful reproduction,^ 

1 The walls of the Manchu or Tartar city (called by the Chinese Nei-cheng, 
i.e. Inner City) in their present condition date from the time of the Ming 
Emjaerors, i.e. from the beginning of the fifteenth century onwards. They 
are from forty to fifty feet in height, and sixty feet wide at the base, con- 
sisting of a stone foundation and two walls of immense bricks, the space 
between which is filled in with mud and paved with bricks at the top. The 
Tartar city is over fourteen miles in circumference and is entered by nine 
gates, six in the outer wall and three in the inner or south wall, which is also 
the north wall of the Chinese city. The latter, or Outer City, AV"ai-cheng, is 
nine miles in circumference, excluding the northern or common wall, and its 
walls are from twenty-five to thirty feet high, and twenty-five feet wide at 
the base. They are entered by seven outer and three inner gates (the latter 
being identical with those already named). The grand total of gates is 
therefore sixteen, of which thirteen are in the outer wall. In the embrasures 
of the gate-towers are fixed boards upon which are painted the nozzles of 
imaginary cannon — an innocent device which is supposed both to terrify the 
advancing enemy and to deceive the war god Kuan-ti, who, as he looks down 
from heaven, is overjoyed to see the city in a state of such splendid defence. 
In deference to the misogynist prejudices of the same deity, women are not 
allowed upon the walls. 

2 Yen-king, the capital of the Kin Tartars, which was situated a little to 
the south of the present Peking, was captured by Jinghiz Khan in 1215. His 
grandson Kublai Khan (the patron of Marco Polo) rebuilt the capital on a 
rather more northerly site in 1264-67, and called it in Chinese Tatu or Taidu, 
i.e. Great Court. It was also called Khan-baligh, i.e. City of the Khan, the 
Cambaluc of Marco Polo, and covered ap^jroximately the same site as the 
modern Tartar city, beyond which, however, its wall, which still exists, 
extended aboiit two miles on the north. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 231 

the fourtold city — Chinese, Tartar^ Imperial, and Forbidden 
— is at once an historical monument, carrying us back to 
the age of Kublai Khan ; a vast stationary camp of nomads, 
pouring down from Mongolian deserts and Tartar steppes ; 
the capital of an empire that is to Eastern Asia what Byzan- 
tium was to Eastern Europe ; the sanctuary of a religion 
that is more manifold than that of Athens and more ob- 




WALLS AND GATES OF PEKING 

stinate than that of Rome ; and the residence of a monarch 
who is still the Son of Heaven to 350,000,000 of human 
beings, whom a bare score of living foreigners have ever 
seen, and who at the end of the nineteenth century con- 
tinues to lead an existence that might better befit either 
the Veiled Prophet of Khorasan or the Dalai Lama of Tibet. 
The ground-plan of Peking, which dates directly from the 
time of the Mongol Kublai Khan, and was practically a 



232 CHINA 

reproduction in brick and mortar of a military camp, is 
exceedingly simple ; and its principal landmarks are so 

prominently placed, that in spite of its vast size and 
roun - ^YiQ sameness of its disgusting streets, a stranger 

very soon learns his way about. The walls of the 
Tartar city frame an immense quadrangle, almost a square, 
facing the points of the compass, and on the southei'n side 
subtended and slightly overlapped by the more elongated 
parallelogram of the Chinese city. It should be added that 
this ethnographical distinction of inhabitants, which was 
enforced for expediency's sake at the time of the Manchu 
conquest in 1644^ has since been almost entirely effaced, the 
Tartar element having been in the main absorbed, and the 
Chinese having overflowed into the quarters that were at 
first reserved for the conquering race. Within the walls of 
the Tartar city is a second walled quadrangle, constituting 
the Huang- cheng, or Imperial city, about seven miles in 
circuit, containing the public offices, barracks, and many 
temples and residences of princes, nobles, and officials ; and 
in the centre of the Imperial city is the final and innermost 
walled enclosure of the Tzu-chin-cheng, or Pink Forbidden 
city, a succession of magnificent yellow-tiled halls, of palaces, 
kiosques, lakes, and gardens, whei-e, behind the protection of 
pale pink rampart and wide moat, the Lord of this great 
domain, the master of 350,000,000 human beings, and the 
Vicegerent of Heaven, himself all but a god, lives a 
prisoner's life. On the northern side of the Palace rises 
the Ching-shan, or Prospect Hill, whose wooded sides and 
five summits, crowned with kiosques or temples, are the 
most conspicuous object in the city as seen from the Tartar 
wall. Tradition relates that this elevation is made of coal, 
and was artificially raised by the Ming Emperors as a 
provision against the hardships of a prolonged siege ; it is 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 233 

therefore also called Mei-shan, or Coal Hill. But I am not 
aware that this hypothesis has ever been tested by driving a 
shaft into the interior; and the hill, which seems to be 
absolutely identical with the one described by Marco Polo 
as having been thrown up by the Mongols, is more likely to 
have been raised as a screen to the Imperial dwelling on its 
northern side, in deference to the popular superstition of the 
fengshid. There is something imposing and hieratic in the 
mysterious symbolism of the ground-plan of Peking, in the 
conception of these concentric defences successively pro- 
tecting and shielding from mundane contact the central 
sanctuary, the o/x^aAos yv^s, where the representative of 
Heaven, as it were in a Holy of Holies, resides. 

From another point of view there may be said to be three 
Pekings — the exterior Peking as seen from the city walls, 
which is a delicious wilderness of green trees, in 

the depths of which the dust and nastiness are -r, ^- "^^^ 
^ rekings. 

submerged, and from whose leafy surface rise 
only the curled roofs of yellow-tiled palaces and temples, 
an occasional pagoda, a distant tower ; the interior Peking, or 
the Peking of the streets, tumultuous, kaleidoscopic, pesti- 
lential, shrill ; and the innermost Peking, or the mysteries 
hidden behind the pink and yellow walls that conceal so 
hermetically from the alien eye the ijenetralia both of secular 
and spiritual adoration. The first of these is the only aspect 
in which the charm is unshattered by jarring associations ; 
although, when we descend into it we wonder where the 
shade and the verdure have gone to, so completely do they 
seem to have disappeared. To the second, however, a few 
more words may be devoted, inasmuch as it is the Peking of 
every-day life. 

As we go forth into it for every excursion, either of duty 
or pleasure, we have to settle our means of locomotion. 



234 



CHINA 



Shall they be ponies^ whose least movement will envelop us 
in an acrid whirlwind of dust, or the Peking cart, that 
p strange and springless wooden vehicle of which it 

of the is doubtful whether it was first invented to resist the 

chasms and crevasses and moraines of the streets 
of Peking, or whether they were devised to harmonise with 
its primitive and barbaric structure ? Or, rejecting the two 




STKEET IN PEKING 



sole means of assisted locomotion— for no other animal and 
no other vehicle are available, chairs being reserved for very 
high officials in the capital, and Europeans preferring for 
etiquette's sake not to use them — shall we proceed on foot, 
and pick our way cautiously from peak to peak amid the 
archipelago of universal ordure ? Presently we emerge on 
to a main street. Its great breadth is successfullv concealed 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 235 

by the two lines of booths that have sprung up in the kind 
of ditch that extends on either side of the elevated central 
roadway ; but through the dust we may discern a long 
vista, the parallel walls of which present a line of fantastic 
poles, gilded signboards, carved woodwork, and waving 
streamers and lanterns — the insignia and advertisement of 
the shops that open below. Down this avenue streams 
and jostles a perpetual crowd of blue-clad, long-queued, 
close-shaven, brazen-lunged men ; Chinese women hobbling 
feebly on their mutilated stumps ; thickly-rouged Tartar 
wives, blushing (artificially) beneath a headdress of smooth 
black hair, parted in several places on the crown, and 
plastered tightly over a projecting comb that stands out 
like a long paper-cutter at right angles to the head; a 
sparsely-bearded mandarin seen nodding behind his saucer- 
like spectacles in a screened sedan ; long strings of splendid 
two-humped camels, parading a magnificent winter coat, 
and blinking a supercilious eye as they stalk along to the 
heavy cadence of the leader's bell, laden with sacks of 
lime or coal from the hills ; Mongolians in shaggy caps 
bestriding shaggier ponies ; half-naked coolies wheeling 
casks of oil or buckets of manure on creaking barrows ; 
boys perched on the tails of minute donkeys ; ramshackle 
wagons drawn by mixed teams of mules, asses, ponies, and 
oxen yoked together by a complicated entanglement of 
rope traces passing through an iron ring; abominable and 
hairy black pigs running in and out of the animals' legs ; 
good-looking but cowardly dogs that bark and skedaddle ; 
and above all the crush and roar of the ubiquitous Peking 
cart, thundering with its studded wheels over the stone 
bridges and crashing into the deep ruts, drawn by the 
most majestic mules in Asia, cruelly bitted with a wire 
across the upper gum. 



236 CHINA 

This is the panorama of the central aisle. In the side 

aisles or alleys all the more stationary purveyors of the 

,, ,. amusements or necessities of life are iammed up 

Native •' ^ 

practi- together ; barbers shaving without soap the 
foreheads of stolid customers seated upon stools, 
dentists and chiropodists proclaiming their extraordinary 
skill, auctioneers screaming the glories of second-hand 
blouses and pantaloons, cobblers puncturing the thick sole 
of the native shoe, gamblers shaking spills or playing 
dominoes, or backing against all comers a well-nurtured 
fighting cricket, pedlars and hucksters with their wares 
extended on improvised stalls or outspread upon the 
ground, curio-dealers offering carved jade snuff-bottles or 
porcelain bowls, vendors of the opium-pipe and the water- 
pipe, charm-sellers and quacks with trays of strange 
powders and nauseating drugs, acrobats performing feats 
of agility, sword-players slashing the air with huge naked 
blades, story-tellers enchaining an open-mouthed crowd, 
itinerant musicians tweaking a single-stringed guitar, 
country folk vending immense white cabbages or ruddy 
red persimmons, soldiers with bows and arrows behind 
their backs going out to practise, coolies drawing water 
from the deeply-grooved marble coping of immemorial 
wells, and men and boys of every age carrying birds in 
cages or a singing chaffinch attached by a string to a 
stick. A more than ordinary shouting will herald the 
approach, though it will hardly clear a way, for a bridal 
procession, in which the bride, tightly locked in an 
embroidered red palanquin,^ follows after a train of boys 

1 Red is the festive colour in China. The bridal chair is first carried to 
the bride's home, accomj)anied by music, lanterns, and trays of sweatmeats. 
There she enters, and, preceded by her lady's maids and followed by one of 
her brothers, is conveyed to the bridegroom's house, being so hermetically 
shut up in the sedan that sometimes in the hot summer v^eather she is taken 
out fainting, and occasionally even dead. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 237 

bearing lanterns and men blowing portentous trumpets or 
tapping Gargantuan drums ; or of a funeral cortege, in 
which the corpse^ preceded by umbrellas and tablets, rests 
upon a gigantic red catafalque or bier, with difficulty 
borne upon the shoulders of several score of men.^ In 
curious contrast with the cacophonous roar of this many- 
tongued crowd a melodious whirring sings in the air, and 
is produced by whistles attached to the tails of domestic 
pigeons. 

Such is the street life of Peking, a phantasmagoria of 
excruciating incident, too bewildering to grasp, too aggres- 
sive to acquiesce in, too absorbing to escape. If _, 
we turn from it to the Peking of sanctuaries. Imperial 
palaces, and shrines, we are in a very different 
atmosphere at once. For just as everything in the other 
Peking is public and indecent, so here everything is 
clandestine, veiled, and sealed. The keynote to the 
remainder is struck by the enclosure within enclosure, 
the Forbidden city inside the Imperial city, where the 
Lord of countless millions, so well described as the ' solitary 
man,' resides. In former days, indeed as late as 1887, 
parts of the Palace-grounds, the lakes and gardens and 
marble bridges, were accessible to foreigners ; photographs 
can be purchased that reveal their features, and the 
majority of resident Europeans can speak from recollection 
of the site. Now all is closed ; and from the exterior 
nothing can be seen but the yellow roofs of the great 
halls and the elegant pavilions that crown the higher 
elevations. To the innermost enceinte or Palace no man 
is admitted. There the Impei*ial person and harem are 
surrounded by a vast body of eunuchs, estimated at from 

^ The number of bearers ranges from 16 to 128 according to the rank of 
the deceased, 64 being a not uncommon and resi^ectable number. 



^8 CHINA 

8000 to lOjOOO. When the Emperor goes out to worship 
at any of the temples, or to visit his palaces in the vicinity, 
no one is allowed in the streets, which are swept clear of 
all stalls and booths, and are very likely paved for the 
occasion, while the houses are barricaded or closed with 
mats. Only in the country, where such precautions are 
impossible, can the Imperial person be seen, borne swiftly 
by uniformed retainers in a magnificent sedan. ^ 

Of the disposition and tastes of a monarch thus shrouded 
from human gaze but little can be known. His imperial 
Majesty, whose ruling title is Kuang Hsu, is now 
Emperor twenty-four years of age, and succeeded his 
""^ ^ ■ cousin, the Emperor Tung Chih, twenty years 
ago, under circumstances that throw an interesting light 
upon the inner mysteries of Court existence in Peking. 
Tung Chih also was a child when he succeeded his father, 
Hsien Feng, the fugitive of the Anglo-French campaign, 
in August I86I. During his minority the Government was 
virtually in the hands of two ladies, one of whom, the 
Empress of the Eastern Palace, named Tsi An, had been 
the principal wife and Empress of Hsien Feng, while the 
other, who, though the mother of Tung Chih, had not been 
Empress, was in consideration of the accession of her son 
named Empress-Mother and Empress of the Western Palace. 
She was only twenty-seven years of age at the time. Seizing 
the reigns of government by a bold coup d'etat,^ in which 
they were assisted by one of Hsien Feng's brothers, well- 
known to Europeans as Prince Kung, these ladies ad- 

J The Imperial palanquin is usually carried iipon the shoulders of eight 
bearers, clad in green coats spotted with red and white, and ruiming in the 
midst of several hundred horsemen. 

2 They arrested the entire Council of Regency, as they were returning to 
Peking with the body of the deceased Emperor, and sentenced them, one 
to public execution, two to compulsory suicide, and the remainder to 
deprivation of all office and rank. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 239 

ministered the State as Regents, with Prince Kung as 
Chief Minister, until in 1873 Tung Chih attained his 
majority and shortly afterwards married. The young 
wife then became Empress, and the two elder ladies 
retired nominally into the background. 

Tung Chihj however, was addicted to dissipation, and veiy 
soon gave signs of a failing constitution. During his illness 

a decree was issued, no doubt at their initiative, ^, 

The two 

in which the Emperor, passing over his own wife, Empresses 
invited them to resume their former functions ^^ " ' 
until his restoration to health. By this clever step the two 
ladies, who foresaw a second and not less agreeable lease of 
power during the minority of a second infant, found them- 
selves in the highest place, when^, in January 1875, the 
Emperor Tung Chih died childless, but leaving a widow who 
expected before long to become a mother. They were now 
in a position to manipulate the succession according to their 
own desires. The natural course, following the ordinary 
practice of Imperial succession, would have been to wait for 
the birth of the deceased Emperor's posthumous child, and 
in the event of its being stillborn, or a girl, to select from 
among the members of the Imperial family a child who 
should be adopted as his son, and during whose minority the 
widowed Empress should rule as Regent. This, however, 
was not at all to the taste of the two ex-Empresses Regent. 
Of these the one who was mother to the late Emperor had a 
sister married to Prince Chun, the younger brother of Prince 
Kung, the child of which union was therefore twice over a 
nephew of the Emperor Hsien Feng and cousin of Tung 
Chih. Ignoring the pregnancy of the Empress Ah-lu-ta, and 
passing over the sons of Prince Chun's elder brothers,^ they 

1 Prince Kung was willing to submit to this, because it assured him a 
renewed lease of power as First Minister, which, according to Chinese 



240 CHINA 

selected this infant, whose name was Tsaitien, and who, 
having only been born in August 1871, would ensure them 
a second long spell of Regency^ The Empress-Mother went 
in person to the house of her brother-in-law, and brought out 
the intended claimant. He was adopted as a son to Hsien 
Feng, thus ensuring to the two ladies a continuation of their 
functions as dowagers, and was elevated with the ruling title 
of Kuang Hsu (Glorious Continuity) to the Dragon Throne ; 
the Regents further producing what purported to be a nomi- 
nation of the child by the late Tung Chih as his heir. The 
only step that remained to complete the success of the 
arrangement was the disappearance of the young widowed 
Empress of Tung Chih before the birth of her child could 
upset the plot ; and Chinese opinion can have been little 
surprised when the early announcement of her death was 
made, the catastrophe being generally explained by the 
popular Chinese practice of suicide, though whispers 
were not lacking of a more sinister doom. It will 
be seen from the above account that there was quite 
a cluster of irregularities, to use no stronger term, in 
the nomination of the reigning Sovereign. But, ac- 
cording to Chinese ideas, the main flaw in his title 
consists in his belonging to the same generation as 
the Emperor Tung Chih, and in his consequent dis- 
qualification from performing the sacrifices that are due 
from a descendant to his Imperial predecessor, whose 
legal successor therefore he cannot be. It was this 
injury done to the memory of Tung Chih that formed 
the protest of the censor Wu-ko-tu, who committed 

views of parental dignitj^ would not have been possible had his own son 
become Emj)eror. The latter, moreover, had already passed by adoption into 
the family of a younger brother of the Emperor Hsien Feng. Prince Chun, 
however, violated all precedent later on by serving his own son, the 
reigning Emperor, in the same capacity until his death in 1891, 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 241 

suicide during one of the Imperial visits to the ancestral 
tombs, in order to attract public attention to the scandal. 

The second Regency lasted for fourteen years, until in 
1889 the young Emperor assumed the reins of power and 

married his cousin Yeh-ho-na-la. Providence _ 

The 

has not yet favoured him with an heir, although. Empress 
according to the Chinese practice, several ap- 
pointments have already been made to the titular office 
of Guardian to the Heii'- Apparent. The senior of the 
two Regents, the Empress Dowager of Hsien Teng, had 
died in 1881, but the second, or mother of Tung Chih, 
the Empress Tzu Hsi, continued and continues to survive, 
and, in spite of her nominal withdrawal from public life, 
still wields a predominant influence in the government of 
the Empire. In the opinion of every European who has 
lived long in Peking, and of all the Chinese statesmen 
with whom they have conversed, the Empress is a woman 
of remarkable abilities. In November 1894 she attained 
her sixtieth year (the ' cycle of Cathay '), and the 
celebrations and rejoicings in honour of this auspicious 
event, for which a compulsory subscription had been 
imposed upon the various provinces, and which were to 
have assumed unequalled dimensions, involving an ex- 
penditure of £5,000,000, were interrupted only by the 
calamitous sequence of the war. The Emperor paid her 
the supreme compliment of adding two more ideographs 
to her already elongated title, which now runs as follows : 
'Tzu-hsi-tuan-yu-kang-i-chao-yu-chuang-cheng-shou-kung- 
chin-hsien-chung-hsi.' An issue of the Peking Gazette 
also contained the following eminently filial announce- 
ment : — 

' The superlative goodness of the most August Empress Dowager 
is brightly manifest, and Her comprehensive foresight benefits the 

Q 



242 CHINA 

whole race. By ceaseless diligence within Her palace she secures 
the peace of the entire realm. Since Our accession to the Throne 
We have in respectful attendance constantly received Her admirable 
instructions. With great gladness We perceive Her Gracious 
Majesty in robust health and cheerful spirits. In the year 1894 
Her Majesty will happily attaiii the illustrious age of sixty years^ 
and it will be Our duty at the head of the officials and people of 
the whole Empire to testify our delight and to pray for blessings.' 

It is a curious coincidence — in contradiction of the popular 
theories concerning the Eastern subjection of women— that 
both in China and Korea I should have found the de facto 
sovereign belonging to the female sex. 

Upon no bed of roses, how^ever, can the Emperor of China 
lie. The ceremonial functions of his life, whether as 
„, „ Supreme Ruler or as Pontifex Maximus of his 

peror Ku- people, are manifold and engrossing. His educa- 
tion, both in the native classics and in such de- 
partments of foreign learning as may be thought desirable, 
is not neglected ; and the present Emperor, who is known 
to take a deep interest in everything English, receives daily 
English lessons, at a very early hour in the morning, before 
giving audience to his ministers, from two Chinese students 
of the Tung Wen Kuan, or Foreign College at Peking; who, 
unlike the Ministers, are allowed to sit in the Imperial 
presence. As an instance of the young ruler's keen concern 
in his English studies, I may mention that when he received 
a copy of the Life of the Prince Consort as a present from 
Her Majesty the Queen, he sent it down at once to the 
Tung Wen Kuan to be ti'anslated, and was impatient until 
he had received it back.^ In the still hours of the night, 

^ The following description of his personal ai^pearauce was given by an 
eye-witness of the Audience of 1891: — 'His air is one of exceeding intelli- 
gence and gentleness, somewhat frightened, and melancholy looking. His 
face is pale, and though it is distinguished by refinement and quiet dignity, 
it has none of the force of his martial ancestors, nothing commanding or 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 243 

when no sound but the watchman's rhythmical tap intrudes 
upon the silence, palanquins may be seen wending theii' 
way to the Palace-gates ; and there, at 3 and 4 a.m., long 
before suni'ise, custom prescribes that the young monarch 
shall give audience to such of his Ministers as have access 
to his person, and shall give or refuse to the documents 
which they present the crowning sanction of the vermilion 
seal. 

What with the necessary but dolorous routine of his 
official existence on the one hand, rigidly prescribed by an 
adamantine and punctilious etiquette, and with 
the temptations of the harem on the other, it is ^ ^^^ 
rarely that an Emperor of China — usually an 
infant, and selected because of his infancy in the first place, 
and exposed through the tender years of his youth to these 
twofold preoccupations — can develop any force of character, 
or learn the rudimentary lessons of statecraft. The safety 
of the dynasty and the sanctity of the Imperial title are 
supposed to be summed up in the unswerving maintenance 
of this colossal Imperial nightmare at Peking. Were it to 
be dissipated or shattered by the appearance of a strong 
Sovereign, who to the ascendency of personal authority 
added an emancipation from the petrified traditions of the 
Palace, the phantom of Imperial power would, it is com- 
monly said, suffer irretrievable collapse. But at least the 
spectacle, or the experiment, would be one of surpassing 
interest ; nor do I see any very clear reason why a present 
or a future Emperor should not take that more public part 

imperious, but is altogether mild, delicate, sad, and kind. He is essentially 
]Mancliu in features ; his skin is strangely i^allid in hue ; his face is oval- 
shaped with a very long narrow chin, and a sensitive mouth with thin 
nervous lips ; his nose is well-shaped and straight, his eyebrows regular and 
very arched, while the eyes are unusually large and sorrowful in expression. 
The forehead is well-shaped and road, and the head is large beyond the 
average.' 



244 CHINA 

which was filled only a century ago by the Emperor Kieng 
Lung, and a century earlier by the Emperor Kang Hsi. 

Profound^ however, as is the obscurity attaching to the 
Palace life, a scarcely less, and a far more exasperating, 
^, mystery has in the last few years been allowed 

Temple of to gather about the various sacred enclosures 
within the city^ which are the goal to which the 
traveller's gaze has been turned from afar. Till within the 
last fifteen years most of these were easily accessible, and 
old residents record how they have played at cricket in the 
park of the Temple of Heaven, and explored the Temples 
of Agriculture, the Sun, and Moon. In proportion, however^ 
as the memory of the war of I860 has receded, and the 
power for menace of the foreigner been diminished, so has 
the arrogance of the Chinese grown ; and nothing now gives 
them greater pleasure than the sullen and sometimes in- 
solent rejection of the ^foreign devil' from the doors to 
which he once gained undisturbed entry. In the case of 
the Imperial temples or enclosures there is the further excuse, 
that whereas during the long minorities of the present and 
the preceding Emperor, they were not used for worship, and 
were consequently neglected, their sanctity has now been 
vindicated and revived. I know of no foreigner, accordingly, 
who has been admitted to the Temple of Heaven for ten 
years ; although, having climbed, not without judicious 
bribery, the southern wall of the Chinese city, which im- 
mediately overlooks the sacred enclosure, I could with ease 
observe from thence the vast roofless altar, three stages high, 
of glittering white marble, whereupon, at the summer and 
winter solstice, at two hours before sunrise, the Emperor 
makes burnt-offerings and sacrifice on behalf of his people 
to the Supreme Lord of Heaven ; could recognise the Hall 
of Fasting, where he remains in solitary meditation during 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 245 

the night ; the southei'ii cii-cular Temple of the Tablets ; 
the three great red poles, from which are hung lanterns 
to illumine the ceremony ; and the scaffolding surrounding 
the site of the renowned triple-roofed, blue-tiled temple 
above the northern altar, the chief glory of the entire en- 
closure, which was burned to the ground a few years ago, 
and is now in course of a snail's-pace reconstruction. ^ 

It is still quite possible to pass the outer wall of the 
entire enclosure, which is a pai*allelogram about three miles 
in circumference, for the dust has blown up against „.^ . 
it in a manner which renders it easy to clamber of admis- 
on to the coping and then to drop down the 
other side. Here, however, the visitor merely finds himself 
in the wooded park where the sacrificial animals are kept ; 
and though he may succeed in taking the guards by surprise 
and in rushing one of the doorways that lead into the inner 
enclosures, he is hardly likely to repeat the success suffi- 
ciently often to conduct him to the innermost enceinte where 
are the altars. In former days nothing but a little dash to 
start with, and a subsequent douceur, were required to over- 
come the scruples of the custodians ; but such a venture, 
it is generally thought, might in the present state of native 
feeling be provocative of violence. 

Fascinating, indeed, would be the experience of the man 
who, by whatever device, succeeded in witnessing the great 

annual observance of December 21 : when, in the „, 

' The 

glimmer of the breaking dawn, the Emperor, who Annual 

has passed the night in solitary prayer in the Hall 

of Fasting, comes forth and dons the sacrificial robe of blue ; 

^ It was struck by lightning in 1890. The contract for its reconstruction 
was 1,000,000 taels (about £210,000), and the new building is to be complete 
in 1898. At the time that I was in Peking (November 1892) the workmen 
had struck for higher pay, although receiving 2s. a day, an enormous wage 
in China. One half of the time-limit for reconstruction expired in 1895. 



246 



CHINA 



when he leaves on his left hand the northern altar and the 
circular temple upon it, with its curving azure roof, like unto 
a threefold outspread parasol ; when he moves along the 
marble causeway between the cypress groves, and beneath 
the pailows or arches of sculptured marble ; when he passes 
the single-peaked Circular Hall of the Tablets, whence the 
tablets of Shang-ti, the Supreme Lord, and of the eight 
deified Manchu Emperors have already been transferred to 




SOUTHERN ALTAR OF HEAVEN 



their temporary resting-places on the roofless southern altar ; 
when to the music of over 200 musicians, and to the mystic 
movements of a company of dancers, he approaches the 
marble mount, and ascends the triple flight of nine steps 
each, from the ground to the lower, and from the lower to 
the central tier, whereon are disposed the tablets of the Sun, 
Moon, and Stars, and of the Spirits of the Air and Water ; 
when, finally, from the central he mounts to the uppermost 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 247 

terrace, wherej under the open vault, a pavilion of yellow 

silk overshadows the tablets of the deified Emperors and 

of Shang-ti, the Supreme Lord. There arrived, he kneels ; 

there he burns incense and offers libations on behalf of his 

people before the sacred tablets ; there, nine times, he bows 

and strikes the marble platform with his Imperial forehead, 

in obeisance to the God of Heaven. 

While in Peking I saw the sights or buildings which 

are still accessible to the foreigner, though in some cases 

not without difficulty, and in few without long 

parleying at the wicket, and the ffift of an ex- ^^"syb- 
r J o ' o servatory. 

orbitant bribe. Of these, perhaps, the best known 
is the Kuan-Hsiang-tai, or Observatory, originally founded 
in 1279 by Kublai Khan, to contain the instruments of his 
famous Astronomer- Royal, Ko-chow-tsing. Four hundred 
years later the Mongol instruments were pronounced out of 
date by Ferdinando Verbiest, the Jesuit father, who was 
President of the Board of Works at the Court of the Manchu 
Emperor Kang Hsi, and were superseded, by a new set of 
instruments, manufactured under Verbiest's directions at 
Peking, or (as in the case of the azimuth dial, presented by 
Louis XIV. to the Chinese sovereign) imported from Europe. 
The Ming instruments, all of bronze, and polished to a 
glassy smoothness by long exposure to the dust-charged air 
of Peking, are placed under the open sky, on an elevated 
bastion rising above the summit of the east Tartar wall, 
which, however, is only accessible thi'ough a wicket and 
courtyard at the base. Of far greater interest, to my mind, 
than these objects, w'hich consist of a sextant, a quadrant, an 
armillary sphere, a great celestial globe adorned with gilt 
constellations, and other instruments, are the older and dis- 
carded fabrications of the Mongols, which repose under the 
shadow of trees in the grassy courtyard below. Here are 



248 CHINA 

two armillaiy spheres, great intertwined circles or hoops of 
bronze, on stands supported by chiselled dragons i-ampant. 
Here also, shut up in two dusty compartments of an adjoin- 
ing building, are two objects which no modern traveller, 
whose writings I have seen, appears to have noticed, although 
one of them is mentioned by Sir H. Yule in his edition of 
Marco Polo.^ One is a clepsydra, or water-clock, probably 
dating from the Mongol era, and composed of three great 
bronze jars, placed in tiers one above the other, so that 
a measured quantity of the water overflowed within a given 
space of time. Attached to them in former times was a 
figure holding an arrow, on which the hours were marked, 
and which rested on a vessel floating in one of the cisterns, 
and changing its elevation as the water rose or fell. This 
I think, must be the disused water-clock, which the early 
Jesuit missionaries describe as having formerly been placed 
in the Ku-lou, or Drum Tower. The remaining instrument 
is a gnomon, or long table of bronze, along which, down the 
middle, is marked a meridian of fifteen feet, divided by 
transverse lines. Upon this the sun's rays struck, passing 
by an aperture in the wall, the horizon being formed of two 
pieces of copper suspended in the air. The instrument has 
now fallen to pieces, and no one seems ever to notice it. 

Among other places which are usually visited within the 
Tartar city is the Kao Chang, or Examination Building, 

„ . which lies below and is easily visible from the Ob- 

isxamina- •' 

tion Build- servatory Platform. It consists, like the corre- 
sponding structures in the provincial capitals of 
China, of long parallel rows of many thousand cells or pens, 
in which, once every three years, the candidates for the 
second and third degrees of literary promotion are immured 
for several days and nights, while they are composing the 
Vol. i. p. 366. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 249 

jejune though flowery disquisitions that are to turn the 
successful competitors into the higher class of mandarins. 
It is the apotheosis — or shall I not rather say the reductio ad 
absurdum ? — of the system, from whose premonitory symptoms 
our own country^ a tardy convert to Celestial ideas, is 
already beginning to suffer. 

In the northern part of the city beyond Prospect Hill are 
the Ku-lou, or Drum Tower, containing an immense drum, 

which is beaten to announce the watches of the ^^ , 

Drum and 

night, and the Chung-lou, or Bell Tower, erected Bell 
by the Emperor Kien Lung in 1740 to shelter one 
of the five great bells that were cast by the Emperor Yung Lo 
at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Both these towers 
are immensely lofty structures, quite 100 feet high, pierced 
below by a wide arch. 

Every one also goes to see the Temple of Confucius, a vast 
and dusty hall, of the familiar Chinese pattern, raised upon 
a stone terrace, and containing nothing inside 
but the dull red pillars that support the lofty rQ^fu^fju" 
timbered roof, the tablet of the sage standing in 
the centre in a wooden shrine, with the tablets of the four 
next most eminent sages, two on either side, and those of 
another dozen a little lower down. The Emperor is sup- 
posed to visit and worship at this temple twice in every 
year ; but at the time of my visit the reigning monarch was 
reported not yet to have been at all. In an adjoining court 
are the so-called stone drums, black cheese-shaped blocks of 
granite inscribed with stanzas in an ancient character, that 
are supposed to refer to a hunting expedition of the 
Emperor Siuen in the eighth century b.c. On the opposite 
side of the same gateway are the replicas that were made of 
them by the Emperor Kien Lung. A neighbouring en- 
closure contains the commemorative tablets, like the carved 



250 CHINA 

letters in the Upper School at Eton, that display the names 
of all the learned doctors who have taken the highest 
literary degree, or Chin-shih, since the days of the 
Mongol. 

Adjoining again is the Kuo-tzu-chien, or Imperial Academy 
of Learning, an educational establishment which exists only 

in respect of habitation and of name ; and in the 
Hall o the (.gj^|-j.g ^f |-]^jg enclosure stands the Pi-yung-kung, 

or Hall of the Classics, where, upon a raised 
throne, the Emperor is supposed to, but, I believe, does not 
read an address to the literati. On the sides of a court in the 
Kuo-tzu-chien are also placed under cover the 200 tablets 
containing the graven text of the Confucian classics. 
About all these fabrics, and their silent and deserted courts, 
there is an air of academic and supreme repose. 

No such impression is derived from a visit to the Yung-ho- 
kung, or great Lama temple, which stands close to the last- 

„ mentioned enclosure in the north-east corner of 

Great 

Lama the city. Its 1200 Mongolian inmates, presided 

over by a Gegen, or Living Buddha, are celebrated 
for their vicious habits and offensive manners. It was con- 
sidered a stroke of rare good fortune that, with the aid of 
an experienced Chinese scholar, I obtained entrance to the 
monastery ; although our small party did not escape from 
the clutch of its filthy and insolent inhabitants without 
being heavily mulcted at the gate of each court and 
sanctuary, which were barred against us one after the other, 
and being subjected at intervals to rough usage as well. 
Subsequent visitors to Peking have been unable to gain 
admittance at all. I retain a vivid recollection of the main 
temple, with its three seated Buddhas and two standing 
figures, one on either side of the central image ; with the 
eighteen Lohans, or disciples, along the sides ; and with a 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 251 

unique collection of old cloisonne and gilt bronze vessels, 
censers, and utensils, the gifts of emperors, on the various 
altars. The furniture of this temple is the finest that I have 
seen in China, and reflects a sumptuous antiquity befitting 
a sanctuary of such high repute. Behind the main temple 
is the Prayer Hall, filled with rows of low forms or stools, 
facing east and west and divided by mats. As the hour for 
evensong was approaching we were unceremoniously hustled 
out of this building by the assembling monks. Beyond 
again is a temple containing a huge gilt wooden image of 
Maitreya, the Buddha To Come, not seated but standing, 
and with his head touching the roof seventy feet above. It 
is possible to climb up to the top by wooden stairs leading 
to two upper stories, where are innumerable small brass 
Buddhas disposed in shrines and niches. The Lamas de- 
clined to part with any of these except at an exorbitant 
price; but I have one in my possession which was sub- 
sequently brought to the Embassy by a monk, less pious or 
more pliable than his fellows. At the back is another altar 
with a number of porcelain Buddhas, resembling Luca della 
Robbia ware. We next saw a dilapidated building con- 
taining the terraced structure or throne, on the top of which 
the Emperor Kien Lung is said to have fasted for a night 
prior to his initiation into the Church, In another part is 
the temple of Kuan-ti, the God of War, crowded with 
hideous painted and grinning images, and with figures of 
warriors in helmets and armour. Here also are the wooden 
models of two hippopotami with their young, which are said 
to have been killed by Kien Lung while hunting at Kirin in 
Manchui'ia. On our way out we saw the monks and their 
pupils, many hundreds in number, engaged at evensong in 
the various chapels. Loud rang the deep, base monotone of 
their voices, shouting with irreverent iteration the responses 



252 CHINA 

of the Tibetan liturgy. All wore yellow mantles, and in 
front of each upon the bench was his yellow tufted felt 
helmet, exactly like the headpiece of a Hellenic or Roman 
warrior. The Lamas of higher grade, in purple and crimson 
mantles, wore these upon their heads as they walked to and 
fro between the benches, conducting the service. The 
appearance of a group of Europeans excited indignant pro- 
tests from these individuals ; and we had a long wait, in 
hope of a crowning bribe, before we were permitted to leave 
the final gate and quit this nest of profligate scoundrels. 
However, the experience was well worthy of the time and 
trial to temper involved, and is thought by the best resident 
authorities to be the most singular of the now available 
sights of Peking. 

Very gratifying is it to turn one's back upon this city, 
where all that is worth seeing is so difficult, and where such 

savage inroads are made upon equanimity, patience, 
Uutside g^^j every human sense, and to make a trip to 

some of the well-known sites that lie within a 
range of from forty to sixty miles of the northern gates. 
Here, outside the Tartar wall, but within the mud rampart 
of the Mongolian Kambalu, is the Huang-ssu, another Lama 
monastery, commonly called the Yellow Temple. It consists 
of a series of great enclosures with tranquil courts, old trees, 
shrines covering memorial tablets, and vast temple-halls. 
The largest of these possesses one of the most impressive 
interiors that I have ever seen. Three great solemn seated 
Buddhas are raised aloft, and peer down with the inscrutable 
serenity of the familiar features and the ruddy glimmer of 
burnished gold. The adjacent figures of Lohans, the 
coloured fresco of Buddhistic scenes, the lofty timbered 
roof, the splendid altars and censers, are all features seen 
elsewhere ; but the majestic stature of the images, the 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 253 

sumptuous though faded colouring of the pillars and walls, 
and the deep gloom in which the hall is plunged, compel 
a reverence which is almost without alloy. In a neighbour- 
ing court is the dagoba, or white marble tomb, erected by the 
Emperor Kien Lung to the Teshu Lama of Tibet,^ who, 
while on a visit to Peking, died there of smallpox in 1780. 
The shape of the monument is ugly, but the sculptures 
on its eight sides, which represent scenes in the history 
of the deceased Lama, are fine and humorous in their fidelity 
to life. 

At a short distance to the north-west, the largest of the 
five bells of Yung-Lo, which was cast about the year 1406^ is 
suspended in a temple that was erected 170 years 
later. The dimensions oi'dinarily given are 14 feet j, ?. 
in height, 34 feet in circumference at the brim, 
9 inches in thickness, 120,000 lbs. in weight. More remark- 
able is the fact that the surface of the monster, both inside 
and outside, is covered with thousands of Chinese characters, 
representing extracts from two of the Buddhist classics. 

One of the bitterest of the many disappointments of 
modern Peking is the inability, also of recent origin, to 
see the grounds or ruins of the celebrated Summer 
Palace that was demolished by the Allies in I860. Summer 
Of this act I observe that it has become in recent ^ ^'^^' 
years the fashion among travellers, who have probably never 
read a line of the history of the war itself, to say that it was 
a thoughtless or intemperate act of vandalism appropriately 
committed by the son of that Lord Elgin who had per- 
petrated a corresponding deed of violence by wresting from 
the rock of the Acropolis the marble treasures of Athens. 
Both criticisms are equally ignorant and empty. For though 

1 The Teshu Lama, or Banjin Prembutcha, is the second dignitary in the 
Buddhist hierarchy of Tibet, and resides at Shigatze. 



254 CHINA 

we may regret that the modern Acropolis, now for the first 
time tended and cared for, does not contain the sculptures 
that once formed its chief glory, and though we may deplore 
the loss to the world of architecture and art of the splendid 
fabrics and the priceless treasures of the Chinese Versailles ; 
yet in the one case it must be remembered that, but for the 
first Lord Elgin's intervention, the marbles which bear his 
name would probably not now be existing at all ; and in the 
other, that the second Lord Elgin's act was a deliberate and 
righteous measure of retribution for the barbarous cruelties 
and torture that had been practised for days and nights 
in the courts of that very Palace upon British prisoners of 
war; that more than any other possible step, short of the 
sack of the Imperial Palace at Peking, it signified the 
humiliation and discomfiture of a throne claiming a 
prerogative almost divine ; and that the reason for which 
the suburban instead of the urban residence of the Emperor 
was selected for destruction was the merciful desire to 
save the inhabitants of the capital from a retribution 
which was felt to have been specially, if not solely, 
provoked by the insolency and treachery of the Court. 
Twenty-seven years later the Marquis Tseng, writing in 
the pages of an English magazine,^ admitted that it was 
this step, or 'singeing of the eyebrows of China,' as he 
called it, that first caused her to awake from her long 
sleep, and to realise that she was not invulnerable. So 
far from cherishing an undying grudge against the French 
or English for the act, as is also commonly represented 
by travellers, the Chinese themselves, who have a wonderful 
faculty for oblivion, have invented the fiction that the 
Summer Palace was looted by robbers ; and this is now 
the popular belief. 

1 Asiatic Quarterly Bevieiv, January 1887. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 255 

The term Summer Palace is strictly applied to the Yuan- 
ming-yuan, i.e. Garden of Perfect Clearness, a large enclosure 
surrounded by a high wall four and a half miles in 

circuit, about seven miles to the north-west of V^"" 

' ming-yuan. 

Peking. Here the Emperor Yung Ching in the 
first half of the eighteenth century first built a palace and 
laid out the grounds — a work of twenty years ; and here 
it was that a series of magnificent buildings, designed upon 
the model of Versailles, and framed in a landscape garden- 
ing that was a similar reminiscence of France, were raised 
for the Emperor Kien Lung by the Jesuit missionaries in his 
service. Of these, Pere Benoist undertook the hydraulics in 
1747-50; and the descriptions by Pere Attiret, who was the 
Emperor's Court Painter, and by Pere Bourgeois, which are 
to be found in the Letires J^difiantes, give a most interest- 
ing account of the manner and success of their undertaking. 
To the average European sitting at home it is probably news 
to learn that the Summer Palace, of which he has heard so 
much, was a series not of fantastic porcelain pagodas or 
Chinese pavilions, but of semi-European halls and palaces 
adorned with the florid splendour of the Court of the Grand 
Monarque. The greater part of these were wrecked in I860, 
but for the last twenty years the work of restoration has 
been slowly proceeded with, and no foreigner can now gain 
access to the interior. 

Till lately this prohibition did not apply to the Wan-shou- 
shan, i.e. Hill of Ten Thousand Ages, a similar Imperial 
Pleasaunce about three-quarters of a mile to the 
south-east; and many are the Europeans who Wan-shou- 
have visited and described its beautiful lake and 
island connected with the shore by a white marble balus- 
traded bridge with sixty marble lions on the parapet ; the 
marble boat that lies in the water; the bronze cow reposing 



256 CHINA 

on a stone pedestal ; and the great hill rising from the lake's 
edge, ascended by a lofty staircase upon both sides of a 
colossal terrace of stone, and crowned by elegant temples 
and pavilions. The bulk of these too succumbed to the 
bayonet and the torch ; but on attempting to enter the 
great gates^ where are the bronze lions, I found the whole 
place alive with movement. Thousands of masons and 
coolies were at work, rebuilding the ruins as a palace for the 
Empress Dowager. Entrance was strictly prohibited, and 
only from one of the neighbouring mounds was it possible 
to obtain a view of the interior. The work of reparation 
has been suspended since the war. 

No visit to Peking is accounted complete without an ex- 
pedition to the Great Wall and the Tombs of the Ming 
Emperors ; and though I shall refrain from de- 
W U '^^ scribing an excursion that is so well known, I may 
remark that neither section of it should be omitted 
by the traveller. The Wall is most easily and commonly 
visited at one of two places, either at Pataling, the far exit 
of the Nankow Pass, forty miles from Peking, or at Ku-pei- 
kow, nearly double that distance on the road to the Em- 
peror's Mongolian hunting-lodge at Jehol. The first- 
named point is in the Inner Wall, the second in the Outer.^ 

^ As most persons know, there are two Great "Walls of China, the main 
or Outer Wall, called Wan-li-chang-cheng, i.e. the Ten Thousand Li Wall, 
which runs from Shan-hai-kuan on the Gulf of Pechili, in a westerly direc- 
tion along the northern frontier of China Proper for 1500 miles ; and the 
Inner Wall, which branches off from the first, to the west of Ku-pei-kow, 
and describes the arc of a circle round the north-west extremity of the 
province of Chihli, dividing it from Shansi, for a total distance of 500 miles. 
The Outer Wall is attributed to the Emperor Tsin-shi-huang-ti in 214-204 
B.C. ; but of the original structure it is supposed that very little now remains. 
Near the sea it is made of unhewn stones ; in the greater part of its course 
it is faced with large bricks resting upon a stone foundation, and is from 15 
to 30 feet in height and 15 to 25 feet in thickness ; in its western part it is 
commonly only a nuid or gravel mound, over which horsemen can ride with- 
out dismounting. In parts it has entirely disappeared. The Inner Wall is 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 257 

This great monument of hmnan labour, that still, with some 
interruptions, pursues its aerial climb over 2000 miles of peak 
and ravine, almost invariably excites the enlightened abuse 
of the foreigner, who can see in it nothing but a blindfold 
conception and misdirected human power.^ To me, I con- 
fess, it appears as a work not merely amazing in plan, but 
of greftt practical wisdom (in its day) in execution. To this 
date the Mongol tribes regard the Great Wall as the natural 
limit of their pastures ; and though it could not have been 
expected at any time to render the Empire or the capital 
absolutely secure from invasion, yet in days when men 
fought only with bows and arrows, and indulged in guerilla 
raids of irregular horse, times without number its sullen 
barrier arrested the passage of predatory bands, caused the 
examination of passports, and prevented the illicit entry of 
goods. Because we do not now, in days of artillery, encircle 
an empire any more than a city with a wall, it by no means 
follows that such a defence may not once have been as 
useful to a kingdom as it was to a town. 

Of the Shih-san-ling, or Thirteen Tombs of the Ming 
Emperors, which at unequal distances, each in its own 
wooded enclosure, surround a wide bay or amphi- 
theatre in the hills, thirty miles nearly due north r^^^ Ming 
of Peking, I will merely observe that the famous 
avenue of stone animals through which one enters the 
valley from the south is to my mind grotesque without 

attributed to the Wei dynasty in a.d. 542; but in its present state it is 
almost entirely the work of the Ming Emperors. Their part of the wall is 
built of stone, and is from 25 to 50 feet in height, including the outer 
parapet, and has a paved walk along the summit 14 feet in width, i^assing 
through frequent and more elevated towers with embrasured stone walls 
9 feet in thickness. At the Pataling Gate it is a very imposing structure. 

1 Dr. Williams, for instance, in his Middle Kingdom, speaks of it as an 
' evidence of the energy, industry, and iDerseverance of its builders, as well 
as of their umvisdom and icaste.' 



258 CHINA 

being impressive, the images being low, stmited, and with- 
out pedestals ; that the Great Hall of Yung Lo, which 
contains his tablet, is in design, dimensions, and extreme 
simplicity, one of the most imposing of Chinese sacred 
structures ; that, like the Egyptian kings in the Pyramids 
of Ghizeh and in the subterranean galleries of Thebes, and 
the Persian kings in the rock-sepulchves of Persepolis, the 
object of the Chinese Sovereigns appears to have been 
either to conceal the exact spot in which the royal corpse 
was deposited, or at least to render it impossible of access ; 
and that a visitor should be recommended to compare the 
Ming Tombs with the Mausolea of the reigning dynasty, 
which are situated in two localities known as the Tung-ling 
and Hsi-ling, to the east and west of Peking (while the 
ancestors of the Imperial family were interred in Southern 
Manchuria), and are reported to be of great beauty and 
splendour ; though no European would stand a chance of 
being admitted to their inner temples or halls. 

These and similar excursions to the delightful monastic 
retreats in the western hills, or rides in the Nan-hai-tzu,^ 

a great Imperial park three miles to the south 
Le 'Von ^^ ^^^ Chinese city, surrounded by a wall and 

containing some very peculiar deer,^ are an agree- 
able relief to the visitor, who soon tires of the dirt and 
confusion of Peking. Even such relaxations, however, are 
found to pall upon the resident ; and he is apt to turn from 
the surfeit of desagrements in the streets to the repose of the 

1 In a fit of belated economy, the Emf)ress Dowager, since the war, is 
said to have closed her palace in the Nan-hai-tzu. 

2 This is the Ssu-pu-hsiang {lit. Four-Parts-Unlike, because the various 
parts of the body resemble those of different animals), or Tail-deer, called 
after its first discoverer Cervus Davidianus. It has an immense tail, over 
a foot in length, and gigantic antlers, somewhat resembling those of a rein- 
deer. The species has never been found wild, and is not known to exist 
anywhere in the world excejjt in this park. 



THE COUNTRY AND CAPITAL OF CHINA 259 

walled compounds within which the various Foreign Lega- 
tions reside, and where life, though confined, is at least 
cleanly and free. Of these by far the most imposing is 
the British Legation, an enclosure of three acres inside the 
Tartar city, once the palace of an Imperial prince, whose 
entrance-archways and halls have been skilfully adapted 
to the needs of European life, where the members of the 
staff are accommodated in separate bungalows, where the 
means of study and recreation alike exist,^ and where a 
generous and uniform hospitality prevails. 

1 The premises of the British Legation include the Minister's reception- 
rooms and residence in the quondam palace, separate houses for the First 
and Second Secretaries, houses of Chinese Secretaries, Physician, and 
Accountant, the Chancellery, Library, Student Interpreter's quarters and 
mess. Dispensary, Fire Engine, Armoury, Lawn Tennis and Fives Courts, 
and Bowling Alley, with a body-guard of two constables. 



CHAPTER IX 



CHDSTA AND THE POWEJIS 



Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch' entrate. 

Dante : Inferno, Canto ii. 

At no capital in the world are relations between the 

Government of the country and the representatives of 

Foreign Powers conducted under circumstances 

Relations g^ profoundly dissatisfactory as at Peking. There 

between c j j o 

Chinese is absolutely no intercourse between the native 
peans officials and foreigners. Few of the latter have 

ever been, except for a purely cei'emonious visit, 
inside a Chinese Minister's house. No official of any 
standing would spontaneously associate with a European. 
Even the Chinese employes of the various Legations would 
lose "^face' if observed speaking with their masters in the 
streets. Superior force has installed the alien in the 
Celestial capital ; but he is made to feel very clearly that 
he is a stranger and a sojourner in the land ; that admission 
does not signify intercourse ; and that no approaches, 
however friendly, will ever be rewarded with intimacy. 
This attitude is more particularly reflected in the official 
relations that subsist between the Diplomatic Corps and 
the Foreign Office at Peking. 

That office, if it can be said so much as to exist, is an 
office without either recognised chief or departmental 
organisation. After the war of I860, a board named the 
Tsungli Yamen was invented in 1861 by Prince Kung, who 

260 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 26l 

became its first President — a titular post which he held till 
his fall in 1884 — in order to take the place of a Foreign 
Office, and to conduct dealings with the Minis- „, 
ters of the Powers who insisted on forcing their Tsungli 
unwelcome presence upon Peking. Up till 
that time all foreign affairs had been conducted by 
the Li Yan Yuen, or Colonial Office, a department of the 
Ministry of Rites, which dealt with the dependent and 
tributary nations, and therefore — since, according to the 
Chinese theory, the whole exterior universe fell into that 
category — with all foreign peoples. The war, however, 
showed conclusively that Europe did not appreciate this 
sort of logic ; and some deference required to be paid to 
scruples that had just been so inconveniently enforced. 
The new Board consisted at the start of three members 
only : Prince Kung ; Kuei Liang, senior Grand Secretary ; 
and Wen Hsiang, Vice-President of the Board of W^ar. In 
the following year, 1862, four additional members were 
appointed, and by 1869 successive additions had brought 
the number up to ten. In recent years the total has 
ranged from eight to twelve, with a preponderance, as a 
rule, of Chinese. But it possessed, from the start, this 
remarkable idiosyncrasy, that its members did not con- 
stitute a separate department in any legitimate sense of 
the term, being mainly selected from the other Ministries,^ 
\vithout any special aptitudes for or knowledge of foreign 
affiiirs. For many years past it has been closely identified 
with the Grand Coinicil, a majority of the members of the 
latter Board being also members of the Yamen. It is 
much as though the Board of Admiralty at Whitehall were 

1 These are the Ministries of (1) Civil Affairs and Apijoiiitments, or 
Treasiuy ; (2) Revenue and Finance, or Exchequer ; (3) Rites and Ceremonies ; 
(4) War ; (5) Public Works ; (6) Criminal Jurisdiction or Punishments.— Fi(ie 
Professor R. K. Douglas's Society in China, pp. 44-57. 



262 CHINA 

composed of the Home, Indian, and Colonial Secretaries, 
with perhaps the President of the Boax-d of Trade and the 
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster thrown in. This is 
the scratch body that takes the place of a Foreign Minister, 
and acts as an intermediary between the foreign repre- 
sentatives and the Imperial Government in Peking. A 
number of its members, ranging, maybe, from three to a 
dozen, sit round a table covered with sweetmeats to receive 
the diplomat and listen to his representations. No privacy 
is possible, since the conversation must in any case be 
conducted through interpreters, and there are plenty of 
hangers-on standing about as well.^ While Prince Kung 
was President, all correspondence was carried on in his 
own name. But during the regime of Prince Ching from 
1884 to 1894 official communications were drawn up in 
the names of himself and his colleagues conjointly. The 
Prince, though unknown in Europe, is a typical specimen 
of the Manchu gentleman, and a statesman of great ability, 
with a wide grasp of foreign questions. At the end of 
September 1894, after the double defeat of China by 
Japan in the naval battle of the Yalu, and in the land 
fight at Ping-yang, he was dismissed by the Emperor, and 
Prince Kung, then sixty-two years of age, was recalled 
from his long exile (dating from the Franco-Chinese war 
of 1884) and was reappointed President both of the Tsungli 
Yamen and of the Chun Chi Chu or Grand Council, with 
powers almost amounting to a Dictatorship. Prince Ching 

1 In the excellent recently -published Lije of Sir Harry Parkes, by Mr. 
S. Lane-Poole, there are several extracts from his correspondence, describing 
with characteristic candour his impressions of the Tsungli Yamen. He 
speaks of 'going to the Yamen and having a discussion with eight or ten 
men, who all like to speak at once, and who, when refuted, just repeat all 
they have said before. In some resj)ects it is a question of physical endur- 
ance ; and, if you are not in good condition, the struggle is trying.' — Vol. ii. 
p. 389 ; compare pp. 386, 394. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 26S 

has since been readmitted to favour and now acts as junior 
colleague to Prince Kung. 

It may be imagined that^ whatever the knowledge or 
the ability of the President^ business can with difficulty 
be conducted with a body so constituted. Their 
lack of individual experience ensures irresolution ; . j?Y 
their freedom from all responsibility, ineptitude ; 
and their excessive numbers, paralysis. With whom the 
decision ultimately rests no one appears to know. The 
Board is in reality a Board of Delay. Its object is to 
palaver, and gloze, and promise, and do nothing — an 
attitude which has been in great favour ever since its 
notable success after the Tientsin massacres of 1870, when 
the Chinese, by dint of shilly-shallying for several months, 
till the French were hard pressed in the Franco-German 
war, escaped very much more lightly than they would 
otherwise have done. Sir Harry Parkes said that to get 
a decision from the Tsungli Yamen was like trying to 
draw water from a well with a bottomless bucket. So 
long as the result is procrastination, and China is not 
compelled to act, except as she herself may desire, the 
Tsungli Yamen has served its purpose. As a matter of 
fact, any important business between the British Minister 
and the Chinese Government is far more likely to be 
successfully concluded in London, where, although no 
Chinese representative, with the exception of the Marquis 
Tseng, has so far had any knowledge of English, the 
assistance of Sir Halliday Macartney, the accomplished 
Councillor and English Secretary of the Chinese Legation, 
gives to his chief an advantage which is not enjoyed by 
the official superiors of the latter in Peking. 

This dilatory attitude on the part of the Tsungli Yamen 
is encouraged by the discovery, which the Chinese have 



264 CHINA 

made long since, that the Powers, whose joint action 
would still be almost irresistible, are sundered by irre- 
mediable differences, and can be played off one 

J. 1"^^^ aeainst the other. They know that an allied 

diplomacy. ° •' 

French and British army is in the last degree un- 
likely ever again to march up to Peking and sack another 
Summer Palace. Other hostile combinations are almost 
equally improbable. When, as in the recent co-operation 
of France and Russia, any two of the Powers do combine, 
they carry all before them. In this conflict of interests 
lies the opportunity of the Chinese. Past masters in every 
trick of diplomacy, they picture it in the light of a balance- 
sheet, with credit and debit account, in which no ex- 
penditure must be entered without a more than compensat- 
ing receipt. China never voluntarily makes a concession 
without securing a substantial quid pro quo ; and the tactics 
that recovered Kulja would have done credit to Cavour. 
With equal ability have they recently pressed upon the 
British Government their somewhat shadowy pretensions 
on the confines of Kashmir, Burma, and Siam. The 
Tibetan negotiations, that, after going on for years, 
reached an apparent conclusion in 1894, were conducted 
in precisely the same spirit. With such a people the only 
system to adopt is to borrow a leaf from their own book, 
to act remorselessly upon the Do ut des principle, to pursue 
a waiting game, and to demand a concession, not solely 
when it is wanted, but rather when they want something 
else. In this way will the transaction present the aspect 
of a mercantile bargain so dear to the Oriental mind. 

The one question of foreign politics at Peking which 
equally affects the representatives of . every foreign Power, 
is the Right of Audience ; of which, as it fills a most 
important and a thoroughly characteristic page of Sino- 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 265 

European history, I will give some account. The Emperors 
of China do not appear at any time to have taken up the 
position that their own person was so supremely „, 
sacred as to render audience with a foreigner Right of 
an indignity. On the contrary, in olden days, 
when the Imperial state and prestige were immeasurably 
greater than they now are, audience was freely granted, and 
the person of the Sovereign was less hermetically concealed 
than is now the fashion. Two questions, however, have 
successively been made uppermost in the settlement of the 
matter, viz. the character of obeisance made by the foreigner 
admitted to the interview, and the nature and locality of the 
building in which it took place. As regards the former, the 
favoured individual was expected to comply with the Chinese 
usage by perforxning the kowtow, i.e. kneeling thrice and 
knocking his forehead nine times upon the ground. The 
theory of Chinese sovereignty being that the Emperor is the 
de jure monarch of the whole earth, of which China is the 
' Middle Kingdom,' all other nations, therefore, must be 
either his tributaries or his subjects ; whence the exaction 
of this mark of deference from their envoys. As regards 
the site of audience, the practice of emphasising the lowli- 
ness of the stranger in presence of the Son of Heaven by 
fixing the audience in a building that carries with it some 
implication of inferiority, appears to have been the growth 
only of the last fifty years, if not more recently. 

As early as 713 a.d. an Arab Embassy fi-om Kutaiba, 
arriving at the Court of the Chinese Emperor, Hwen Thsang, 

found themselves called upon to perform the 

^ History. 

kowtow. This they declined to do, and were 

accordingly tried and sentenced to death by the Chinese, 

but were graciously pardoned by the Emperor.^ Conversely, 

1 Nouvecmx 3Ielanges Asiatiques, by .J. V. Remusat, vol. i. p. 441, 442. 



266 CHINA 

ten Chinese envoys were themselves put to death by the 
Burmese in 1286 a.d., because they insisted on appearing 
before the king of that country with their boots on — the 
Burmese equivalent in insult to the refusal of the kotvtotv in 
China.i In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries both 
the Jesuit Fathers who were in the service of the Emperor 
and the envoys of European Courts or companies, who came 
to Peking for complimentary purposes or to secure facilities 
for trade, performed the kowtow without apparent com- 
punction. One Russian official, however, who arrived at 
Peking in the reign of the first Manchu Emperor Shun 
Chill (I644-I66I) was refused an audience because he de- 
clined to kowtow. In those days the audience commonly 
took place in one or other of the great Ceremonial Halls of 
the Imperial Palace in the heart of the Forbidden City, where 
no European is now permitted to enter. Hei"e stands the 
Tai Ho Tien, or Hall of Supreme Harmony, a magnificent 
structure, 110 feet in height, erected upon a terrace of 
marble 20 feet high, with projecting wings, ascended from 
the outer court by flights of steps. The Great Audience 
Hall on the summit of the platform is a vast pavilion, in 
design not unlike the Memorial Temple of Yung Lo at 
the Ming Tombs, 200 feet in length by 90 feet in depth, 
sustained by 72 immense columns of painted teak. In this 
Hall the Emperor held and still holds the splendid annual 
Levees at the Winter Solstice, at the New Year, and on his 
own birthday. As in the Audience Hall, which I have 
previously described at Soul, and as in that which I shall 
afterwards describe at Hue — both of which, being erected 
for the Levees of tributary sovereigns, were exactly modelled 
upon the Chinese pattern — so here in the Tai Ho Tien the 
Emperor takes his seat upon a raised throne in the centre. 
1 Narrative of Mission to the Court of Ava, by Sir H. Yule, p. 79. 



CHINA AND THE t'OWERS 26? 

A few Manchus of exalted rank alone are admitted to the 
building. Outside and below the marble balustrades are 
ranged the nobility and officials in eighteen double rows, 
the civil officers on the east side, and the military officers 
on the west, their respective ranks and positions being 
marked by low columns. Here at the given signal they 
kneel, and nine times strike their foreheads upon the 
gromid in homage to the Son of Heaven, dimly seen, if at 
all, through clouds of incense, in the solemn gloom of the 
pillared hall. The earliest picture published in Europe of 
an Imperial Audience, which was granted to a Dutch Em- 
bassy in 1656, represents it as having taken place in the 
Tai Ho Tien.i The second Hall beyond this in the series 
of successive pavilions, of which the ceremonial portion of the 
Palace consists, is the Pao Ho Tien, or Hall of Precious Har- 
mony, also raised upon a marble terrace, wherein the Emperor 
confers the highest triennial degrees, and in former days gave 
official banquets to foreign guests (notably to the Mongol 
princes and to the Korean and Liuchiu envoys if in Peking) 
on the day preceding the New Year. Here also we read of a 
Dutch ambassador, one Van Braam, as having been received 
by the Emperor Kien Lung in 1795." Both these ambassadors 
kowtowed. So also had done a Russian envoy in 1719^ hi whose 
company travelled John Bell of Antermony, a Scotch doctor ; '^ 
and a Portuguese Envoy, Metello de Sousa Menezes, in 1727. 

1 Relation de VAmhassade de la Compagnie HoUandaise vers VEnipereur de 
la Chine. Paris, 1663. 

2 Voyage de I'Ambassade de la Compagnie des Itules Orientales HoUandaise 
vers VEnipereur de la Chine. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1797. 

2 Journey from St. Petersburg to Divers Parts of Asia, luith an Embassy 
from H.I.M. Peter J., by John Bell. 2 vols. Glasgow, 1763. The ex- 
cellent Scotchman did not at all like having to go through this servile 
operation. But at the audience he says : ' The masters of the ceremonies 
then ordered all the company to kneel and make obeisance nine times to the 
Emperor. At every third time we stood up and kneeled again. Great 
pains were taken to avoid this jDiece of homage, liut without success.' 



268 CHINA 

The first English Plenipotentiary admitted to an audience 

with a Chinese Emperor was Lord Macartney in 1793. He 

was twice received by the aged Kien Lung ; first 

English jj-j ^ pavilion in the grounds of the Emperor's 

embassies. '■ ^ '■ 

Lord hunting-retreat at Jehol, in Mongolia^ and after- 

in 170^ wards at the great Birthday Levee in Peking. 

There were long disputes beforehand as to the 
exact nature of the obeisance which the Plenipotentiary 
should perform ; and in his desire to be agreeable^ the 
latter carried complacency so far as to offer to kowtow on 
condition that a Chinese official of corresponding rank did 
the same before a picture of George iii., which he had 
brought with him. This offer was refused^ and Lord Macart- 
ney is said to have only knelt upon one knee on the steps 
of the Imperial throne as he presented his credentials.^ 
Whatever he actually did, the Chinese ever aftewards in- 
sisted that he had kowtowed ; and furthermore took ad- 
vantage of the British nobleman's ignorance of the Chinese 
language to fix above the boat that brought him up the 
Peiho River, and on the vehicle that took him to Jehol, a 
flag bearing the inscription, ' Ambassador bearing tribute 
from the Country of England ' — an incident which is in 
itself a highly condensed epitome of the national character. 

The next British Envoy, Lord Amherst, in 18 16 escaped, 
it is true, the kowtow, but he never saw the Sovereign at all. 
J , While at Tientsin and during his journey up the 

Amherst river, prolonged daily conferences took place 
between himself and the Chinese officials, who 
insisted that Lord Macartney had kowto7vecl, and demanded 

1 Authentic Account of the Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the 
Emperor of China. Taken from the papers of the Earl of Macartney by Sir G. 
Staunton. 2 vols. London, 1798. Among the presents taken by Lord Macart- 
ney to the Emperor of China from the British Government was a watch that 
cost £500. During the sack of the Summer Palace by the allied armies in 18C0, 
it was found by a French soldier, who sold it to an Englishman for $20. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 269 

the same deference from him. Lord Amherst not merely 
repeated his predecessor's first offer, with equal lack of 
success, but he even consented to kowtow, if the next 
Chinese Ambassador to England would do the same to the 
Prince Regent. This proposal also was scouted ; and Lord 
Amherst finally proceeded upon the understanding that 
instead of kowtowing, i.e. kneeling on both knees three times, 
and knocking the ground nine times, he should kneel on 
one knee three times, and make a low bow nine times. 
Upon his arrival, however, at the Summer Palace, where the 
Emperor Chia Ching was then staying, he was bidden by 
the latter, who was either devoured with curiosity or was 
bent upon a rupture, to an immediate audience, before his 
baggage had arrived, and consequently before he could 
either cleanse himself after the journey, or don his uniform, 
or prepare his presents. Lord Amherst, suspecting in this 
inordinate haste some intentional slur upon the Sovereign 
whom he represented, begged to be excused the honour of 
the interview, and was bundled unceremoniously out of the 
Palace the same evening. Thus abruptly ended his mission.^ 
No other British representative was admitted to the 
Imperial presence up till the war in I860; and the right of 
audience vipon the terms that prevail in every 
other foreign Court was one of the first ad- 
vantages exacted by the conquerors. Article iii. of the 
English Treaty of 1860, without actually claiming the right, 
inferred it by stipulating that the British representative 
' shall not be called upon to perform any ceremony de- 
rogatory to him as representing the Sovereign of an in- 
dependent nation on a footing of equality with that of 
China.' After the conclusion of the war no audience was 

1 Journal of Proceedings of the late Emhassi/ to China, by Henry Ellis, 
Third Commissioner. London, 1817. 



270 CHINA 

possible in the reign of Hsien Feng, because he was a 
fugitive and an exile from his capital till his death in I86I ; 
nor, .during the minority of Tung Chih, in which interval the 
Duke of Edinburgh visited Peking in 18 69 without the 
question being raised, could the demand be put forward. 
As soon, however, as Tung Chih assumed the reins of 
government in 1873, the foreign Ministers in Peking 
addressed to him a collective note, in which they asked to 
be permitted to present their congratulations in person. 
The days had long passed when the Chinese authorities 

could insist upon the kowtow. June 29, 1873, at 
Audiences ^ very early hour of the morning (Lord Macartney 
Chih in had been received at daybreak) was fixed for the 
1874. collective audience. Compelled to evacuate their 

original redoubt, however, the Chinese, with 
characteristic strategy, fell back upon an inner and un- 
suspected line of defence, endeavouring to safeguard the 
dignity of their own Sovereign and to humiliate the foreigner 
by selecting for the site of audience a building in the out- 
skirts of the Palace enclosure known as the Tzu Kuang Ko, 
which stands on the western shore of the big lake. In 
this Hall, which is hung with pictures of combats and of 
eminent Chinese generals, many of them painted by the 
Jesuits, it is the habit to entertain the envoys from tributary 
or dependent States, such as Mongolia and Korea — and in 
former days also the Liuchiu Islands, Nepal, and Annam — 
at the festival of the New Year; and the object which was 
directly served by the flag upon Lord Macartney's boat in 
1793 could, it struck the crafty Chinaman, be now indirectly 
secured by admitting the foreigners to audience in a 
building that possessed to Chinese minds a tributary signifi- 
cance. The audience, at which Great Britain was repre- 
sented by Sir Thomas Wade, took place; but considerable 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 271 

irritation was caused by the official announcement of the 
event in the Peking Gazette, which described the foreign 
Ministers by an incorrect and inferior title^ and represented 
them as having ' supplicated ' for an interview. The ob- 
jections, however, to the building were, it is said, not shared 
in their entirety by some eminent authorities, including Dr. 
Williams, who was present at the audience, and Sir Thomas 
Wade himself 

In the succeeding year, the precedent of 1873 was so far 
improved upon that audience was given to several newly 
arrived Ministers separately in the same hall as on the 
previous occasion. 

In 1875 the Emperor Tung Chih died, and was succeeded 
by a minor. It was not, therefore, till after the assumption 
of government by the Emperor Kuang Hsu, in 
1889, that the question again rose. This time, ^-^^j^ 
however, the Emperor (or rather the Empress Kuang Hsu 
Dowager, inspiring him) himself took the initia- 
tive by issuing on December 12, 1890, the following Pro- 
clamation, which testified to a common-sense or a conversion 
on the part of the Government, which was in either case 
remarkable : — 

' I have now been in charge of the Government for two years. 
The Ministers of Foreign Powers ought to be received by me at 
an audience ; and I hereby decree that the audience to be held be 
in accordance with that of the twelfth year of Tung Chih (1878). 
It is also hereby decreed that a day be fixed every year for an 
audience, in order to show my desire to treat with honour all the 
Ministers of the Foreign Powers resident in Peking.' 

These sentiments were eminently laudable, but by reviving 
the precedent of Tung Chih, they offered no solace to the 
spirits that had been outraged by the reception in the 
Tzu Kuang Ko. Here finally, in spite of a good deal 
of preliminary grumbling, the audience again took place 



272 CHINA 

on March 5, ISQl.^ Six Ministers and their staffs were 
received by the Emperor, who sat cross-legged upon a 
dais with a table draped in yellow silk in front of him ; 
the Ministers being first received separately, in the order 
of their length of residence in Peking ; and the united 
staffs being subsequently introduced en masse. The 
Emperor and his suite wore long blue silk coats lined 
with white fur, and embroidered on the back and front 
with the insignia of their different ranks. On their 
heads were winter hats of black felt with red silk 
tassels and coloured buttons on the crown. Each 
Minister, upon entering, marched up the hall, bowing 
at stated intervals, and paused at the Dragon Pillar, 
where, after reading his letter of credence, and hear- 
ing it translated by the interpreter, he handed the 
document to the President of the Tsungli Yamen. The 
latter placed it on the yellow table in front of the 
Emperor, and subsequently knelt to receive the Imperial 
reply, written in Manchu, which, after descending the 
dais, he repeated in Chinese to the Minister through 
his interpreter. Some of the representatives are said 
to have been dissatisfied with the arrangements, and the 
foreign press re-echoed and magnified the cry. It was 
perhaps not surprising after this that the Cesarevitch, in 
his tour round the world in the same year, should have been 
successfully kept away from Peking, both by the Chinese, 
who dreaded a compulsory surrender, and by the Tsar, 
who could hardly have brooked anything approximating 
to an indignity. 

1 Herr von Brandt, the German Representative on this occasion, mentions 
in his book, A^is dem Lanclc des Zoirfcs, that beside the road which the 
diplomats had to follow in order to reach the Audience Hall, runs the 
track of a small Decauville Railway, uf)on which the Emperor is pushed 
along in a light car by the Palace eunuchs. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 273 

After the audience of 1891 j the Doyen of the Diplomatic 
Corps gave becoming expression to the dissatisfaction of his 
colleagues, among whom the French and Russians 
have always taken the lead, by applying to the fuJ^g^j^^eT^ 
Tsungli Yamen for reception on a future occasion, 
not outside the Palace, and in a tributary building, but, as in 
old days, inside the actual precincts of the Imperial residence. 
A sort of half compliance with this request was made, first by 
the promise to erect a new building for the ceremony, and 
afterwards by the offer of another hall. This is the Chang 
Kuang Tien, a building dating from Mongol times, which 
appears to have no peculiar significance or application, and 
stands on the eastern side of the marble bridge across the 
ornamental lake. It is not one of the ceremonial halls of 
the Palace proper, but, on the other hand, its use conveys 
no slur. Acting upon this opinion, the Austro-Hungarian 
Minister was the first of the Foreign Diplomatic Corps to 
be received here in 1891 ; and here also Sir N. O'Conor, 
Her Majesty's recent representative in Peking, was granted 
an audience upon his arrival in December 1892, and Herr 
von Brandt, the retiring German Minister, upon his 
departure in 1893; a more honorific character having in 
these latter cases been lent to the reception of the 
envoy by his introduction through the main or Porcelain 
Gate, instead of a side gate of the Palace. 

A still further advantage was gained, under the stress 
of the war then proceeding with Japan, in November 1894. 
The Chang Kuang Tien was exchanged for the Wen Hua 
Tien, a hall adjoining the Palace (though not, it appears, 
actually inside it), where the Emperor sits to hear the 
Confucian classics expounded. There, on November 12, 
the Foreign Representatives, who had been admitted by 
the Central Gate, were received by the Emperor Kuang 

s 



274 CHINA 

Hsu to present their congratulations on the sixtieth 
anniversary of the Empress Dowager. The latter was 
present, though concealed from view by a silk curtain 
adorned with peacocks' feathers, that was hung behind 
the throne. Upon leaving, the Ministers were conducted 
out of the grounds through the Eastern Gate. In the 
present year (on June 7, 1895) the Ministers of France 
and Russia, who have always adopted a more uncom- 
promising attitude than the remainder of their colleagues, 
were granted a special audience, arranged somewhat 
theatrically on their behalf, in order to present new letters 
of credence from the heads of their respective States. 
They are reported to have secured the privilege of having 
the missives carried up the central flight of steps to the 
Imperial throne — a technical admission of the titular 
equality of their rulers with the Son of Heaven. 

It will be observed from this historical summary that, 
since Lord Macartney's audience at Jehol just one hundred 
years ago, the following points have been gained, 
ummary ^^^ merely does a Special Plenipotentiary enjoy 
achieve- the right to an audience with the Sovereign, 
but to every foreign Minister accredited to the 
Chinese Court is this prerogative now conceded, both 
upon his arrival and departure, or when presenting any 
communication from his Sovereign ; and, if the terms of 
the Imperial Proclamation of 1890 be carried out, once 
every year in addition. The kowtow has disappeared, not 
merely fi-om foreign practice, but even from discussion. 
Its place has been taken by a ceremonial not essentially 
different from that with which a new Member of Parliament 
is introduced to the British House of Commons. These 
are considerable forward moves. On the other hand, the 
diplomats, though advancing by steady degrees, have not 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 275 

yet quite won their way back to one of the great 
Audience Halls in the main body of the Palace, to 
which it appears to me that precedent and equity alike 
entitle them to advance a claim. Perhaps the recovery 
of the Tai Ho Tien is one of the triumphs that is re- 
served for the diplomacy of the ensuing century. 

Englishmen, living freely in a democratic country, where 
the Fountain of Honour is inaccessible to few, and where 
humility has never been confounded with humilia- 
tion, may not be able to comprehend all this .^^^ ^^^' 
'J r nincance 

pother about the nature of a bow and the of the 
significance of a building. To the Chinese they 
are all-important; and just as the Greek Timagoras was 
condemned to death by the liberty-loving Athenians 2260 
years ago^ becavise he had kowtowed at Susa to Artaxerxes 
Mnemon, the Great King, so have British representatives 
— instructed to maintain the equal prerogative of then- 
Sovereign, in face of the inadmissible pretensions of a 
majesty that was supremely ignorant of its own limita- 
tions — been justified in fighting strenuously for what to 
Europe may seem a shadow, but in Asia is the substance. 
When Lord Macartney took out a beautiful coach with glass 
panels as a present from George in. to the Emperor Kien 
Lung, the Chinese officials were horrified at a structure 
which would place the coachman on a higher level than 
the monarch, and promptly cut away the box-seat. 

Such and so imperfect being the status of foreign 
diplomats, and the methods of diplomatic intercourse at 
Peking, we may next inquire what are the „ 
main objects for which their intervention is policy of 
required .^ In other words, what is the foreign 
policy of China, in so far at least as concerns our own 
country ? We have not here, at any rate for the present. 



276 CHINA 

any demand similar to that which we have noticed in 
Japan, for the revision or abrogation of the Treaties under 
which Europeans are admitted to trade or residence in 
certain ports on the sea-coast, and in cities in the 
interior.! China has not, Hke her neighbours, any judicial 
system, nominally based upon a European model, to offer 
in substitution for the consular courts of the foreigner. 
She is far more dependent upon the latter for her wealth, 
particularly as derived from the Imperial Customs, which, 
under the extremely capable management of an English- 
man, Sir Robert Hart — who enjoys the unique distinction 
of having resigned the appointment of British Minister in 
order to remain Inspector-General, a post which he has now 
held for thirty years — have poured a large and annually 
increasing revenue into her exchequer.- The foreign 
element itself is both much more numerous and more 
powerful than it is in Japan. '^ Moreover, the Chinese 
temperament is naturally disposed to acquiesce in established 
facts, and is wrapped in a complacency too absorbing to 
feel the perpetual smart of foreign intrusion. Such a 
movement may rise into view later on ; but at present it 
is below the horizon. 

The foreign policy of China chiefly concerns Englishmen 
in its relation to St. Petersburg and to Downing Street. 
The successive advances made by Russia, largely at China's 
own expense, have taught her to regard that Power as 

1 A single exception must be noted in the person of the present Chinese 
Minister in England, who, when Taotai at Ning-i:)0, some years ago, wrote a 
series of essays on this and kindred subjects, which have appeared in book 
form. 

2 The Customs' Revenue derived from the Foreign Trade of China in 1892 
was £4,500,000. 

^ In 1892 the number of foreigners residing in the twenty-four Treatj' 
Ports, including Jajjanese, was close upon 10,000. Of these nearly 4000 
were British ; America came next with 1300 ; then France with less than 900 
and Germany with 750. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 277 

her real enemy, whom, however, she fears far more than 
she abhors. It is Russia who threatens her frontiers in 

Chinese Tm'kestan and on the Pamirs : Russia who . ^ .^ , 

' Attitude 

is always nibbling, in scientific disguise, at Tibet ; towards 
Russia who has designs on Manchuria ; Russia 
whose shadow overhangs Korea ; Russia who is building a 
great Trans-continental railway that will enable her to pour 
troops into China at any point along 3500 miles of contigu- 
ous border. All this she knows well enough, and when 
the Cesarevitch passed through Asia he was, as I have 
pointed out, neither invited to nor himself proposed to visit 
Peking ; but the knowledge, so far from instigating China 
to any definite policy of self-defence, except in the isolated 
case of the proposed Manchurian Railway, fills her with an 
alarm that is only equalled by her suspicion of the counsels 
of any other Power. 

China pretends, for instance, to be interested in the 
Pamirs, but she cannot be reckoned upon to move a single 
battalion in their defence, particularly if it is p, . 
whispered in her ear that she is thereby helping and the 
to pull somebody else's chestnuts out of the 
fire. We read in the newspapers mysterious paragraphs 
about the activity of Chinese diplomats at St. Petersburg, 
and of Russian diplomats at Peking ; and the world is 
invited to believe that China is as solicitous of her Turkestan 
frontier as Great Britain is, for instance, about the Hindu 
Kush. We hear of garrisons being reinforced in Kashgaria, 
and of the telegraph wires being pushed westwards over the 
Mongolian desert. All this is intended to give, and perhaps 
succeeds in giving, a general impression of abounding 
activity ; and so far as mere diplomacy is concerned, China 
will no doubt fight as stubbornly to retain her precarious 
foothold on the Roof of the World as she did to recover 



278 CHINA 

Kulja. But no greater mistakej in my judgment^ can be 
committed than to suppose that this mixture of diplomatic 
finesse and bravado masks either any intention to fight 
seriously for the territories in question or the possession of 
any materials to fight with. During the fracas on the 
Pamirs in 1892, when small detachments of Russians 
marched about filibustering and annexing whatever they 
could, the Chinese outposts at Soma Tash and Ak Tash 
skedaddled with headlong rapidity at the first glimpse of a 
Cossack ; and an English traveller found the Chinese 
authority, which claims to be paramount over the entire 
eastern half of the Pamirs^ represented by less than a dozen 
soldiers. And yet there exists a large corps of writers who 
never cease to press upon the public acceptance an implicit 
belief in the strength and resolution of China in Central 
Asia. I prefer to accept the opinion of General Prjevalski, 
Colonel Bell, Captain Younghusband, Mr. Carey, and every 
authority (so far as I know) who has visited the Chinese 
frontier dominions, that, however long Russia may find it 
politic to postpone a forward move, her advance, when 
finally made across the outlying western portions of the 
Chinese Empire, inhabited as they are by a Mussulman 
population who have no loyalty towards their present 
masters, will be a military promenade, attended by little 
fighting and by no risk. Meanwhile, the golden hour in 
which China might make herself strong if she either had 
the will or could resolve upon the way, is allowed to slip by ; 
and a frontier which might, with certain modifications, be 
rendered almost invulnerable, continues by its ostentatious 
helplessness to invite the enemy's assault. 

The experiences of the present year (1895), which might 
by some be thought to testify to the friendly feeling of 
Russia, since it is the latter Power that has stepped in 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 279 

to check the impetuous advance of Japan^ to recover for 
China the Liao-tung Peninsula^ and to supply her with the 
cash wherewith to discharge her indemnity obhga- 
tions, are in reality only a further illustration ■ ^gQ- 
of my proposition. Russia does not render this 
assistance from a superfluity of unselfishness, or for no end. 
She has her price, and she will receive her reward. That 
reward will involve the still further enfeeblement of the 
victim for whose inheritance she is waiting, and to whose 
invalid gasps she prescribes with tender hand the dose that 
imparts a transient spasm of vitality, to be followed pre- 
sently by an even xnore profound collapse. 

The very conditions that render Russia the natural enemy 
of China would appear to constitute Great Britain her 

natural friend. China desires, or should desire, 

Attitude 
to keep the Russian army out of Korea and the towards j^ 

Russian navy away from the Yellow Sea. We y^^^^- 

are similarly interested in both objects. China 

wants, or should want, to retain Yarkund and Kashgar, and 

therefore requires a defensible and defended frontier on the 

Pamirs. We also are anxious to avoid Russian contiguity 

with ourselves at the Hindu Kush or the Karakoram. China 

attaches or should attach a high value to her suzerainty over 

Tibet, which Russia notoriously covets. England does not 

quarrel with the former, but could hardly welcome the 

latter status. If the Trans-Siberian railway will be a 

menace to Chinese territorial integrity, it will also generate 

a sharp competition with British Asiatic trade. Farther to 

the south the recent apparition of France as an aggressive 

factor upon the confines of Siam and Burma has been a 

source of no slight annoyance to China, already exasperated 

by the theft of Tongking. It is not more acceptable to 

ourselves, who have no desire for France as a next-door 



278 CHINA 

Kulja. But no greater mistake^ in my judgment^ can be 
committed than to suppose that this mixture of diplomatic 
finesse and bravado masks either any intention to fight 
seriously for the territories in question or the possession of 
any materials to fight with. During the fracas on the 
Pamirs in 1892, when small detachments of Russians 
marched about filibustering and annexing whatever they 
could, the Chinese outposts at Soma Tash and Ak Tash 
skedaddled with headlong rapidity at the first glimpse of a 
Cossack ; and an English traveller found the Chinese 
authority, which claims to be paramount over the entire 
eastern half of the Pamirs, represented by less than a dozen 
soldiers. And yet there exists a large corps of writers who 
never cease to press upon the public acceptance an implicit 
belief in the strength and resolution of China in Central 
Asia. I prefer to accept the opinion of General Prjevalski, 
Colonel Bell, Captain Younghusband, Mr. Carey, and every 
authority (so far as I know) who has visited the Chinese 
frontier dominions, that, however long Russia may find it 
politic to postpone a forward move, her advance, when 
finally made across the outlying western portions of the 
Chinese Empire, inhabited as they are by a Mussulman 
population who have no loyalty towards their pi'esent 
masters, will be a military promenade, attended by little 
fighting and by no risk. Meanwhile, the golden hour in 
which China might make herself strong if she either had 
the will or could resolve upon the way, is allowed to slip by ; 
and a frontier which might, with certain modifications, be 
rendered almost invulnerable, continues by its ostentatious 
helplessness to invite the enemy's assault. 

The experiences of the present year (1895), which might 
by some be thought to testify to the friendly feeling of 
Russia, since it is the latter Power that has stepped in 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 279 

to check the impetuous advance of Japan, to recover for 

China the Liao-tung Peninsula, and to supjily her with the 

cash wherewith to discharge her indemnity obhga- 

tions, are in reality only a further illustration ?^"^f^ 
•' •' in I095. 

of my proposition. Russia does not render this 
assistance from a superfluity of unselfishness, or for no end. 
She has her price, and she will receive her reward. That 
reward will involve the still further enfeeblement of the 
victim for whose inheritance she is waiting, and to whose 
invalid gasps she prescribes with tender hand the dose that 
imparts a transient spasm of vitality, to be followed pre- 
sently by an even more profound collapse. 

The very conditions that render Russia the natural enemy 
of China would appear to constitute Great Britain her 

natural friend. China desires, or should desire, 

Attitude 
to keep the Russian army out of Korea and the towards 

Russian navy away from the Yellow Sea. We S'^v^^ 

are similarly interested in both objects. China 

Avants, or should want, to retain Yarkund and Kashgar, and 

therefore requires a defensible and defended frontier on the 

Pamirs. We also are anxious to avoid Russian contiguity 

with ourselves at the Hindu Kush or the Karakoram. China 

attaches or should attach a high value to her suzerainty over 

Tibet, which Russia notoriously covets. England does not 

quarrel with the former, but could hardly welcome the 

latter status. If the Trans-Siberian railway will be a 

menace to Chinese territorial integrity, it will also generate 

a sharp competition with British Asiatic trade. Farther to 

the south the recent apparition of France as an aggressive 

factor upon the confines of Siam and Burma has been a 

source of no slight annoyance to China, already exasperated 

by the theft of Tongking. It is not more acceptable to 

ourselves, who have no desire for France as a next-door 



280 CHINA 

neighbour on the borders of our Indian Empire. There are 
therefore the strongest a priori reasons in favour of a close 
and sympathetic understanding between China and Great 
Britain in the Far East. Nor, though Chinese armaments are, 
in the present state, a delusion and China's military strength 
a farce, and though the full extent of the imposture has 
been relentlessly exposed during the recent war, can any one 
deny that the prodigious numbers of China, her vast extent, 
her obstinate and tenacious character, and her calculating 
diplomacy, render her a coadjutor in Central and Eastern 
Asia of no mean value ; just as it would appear that the 
prestige and power of Great Britain in the same regions 
might be of corresponding and even greater service to her. 
A fuller confidence in the honesty of Great Britain than in 
that of her rivals has for long existed in the breast of Chinese 
statesmen, and has been largely due to the integrity of our 
commercial relations, and to belief in the straightness of 
British character ; whilst no efforts have been spared to 
conciliate Chinese scruples in every point where the con- 
cession could be made without sacrifice of principle. The 
ascendency of British influence thus acquired at Peking 
appears to have been temporarily shaken by the negative and 
cautious attitude assumed by the British Government during 
and after the war with Japan, and by the skilful though 
interested interference of Russia and France. But the 
passage of time may be trusted to reveal to China the 
more than Platonic limitations of the affections of her new 
friends, and to remind her of the less suspicious amenities 
of older allies. 

Unfortunately the relations of Great Britain and China 
are liable from time to time to be imperilled by outside 
circumstances, which play a large part in determining the 
character of their official intercourse. I do not allude 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 281 

to the question of Trade, which is the principal ground 

of meeting between the two countries, because a commerce 

which enriches both is unlikely to be seriously . . 

risked by either, and because the wider the Chinese 

sphere of mercantile relations between them (and 

it must expand instead of shrinking) the less rather than 

the greater are the som'ces of friction likely to become. 

Already Anglo-Chinese Trade has attained dimensions that, 

at the time of the fii'st war, fifty years ago, would have been 

laughed at as an idle dream. At that time China sent to 

England less than half a million sterling of goods in the 

year. In 1892 the total foreign trade of the Empire amounted 

to £47,550,000, of which £27,050,000 were imports and 

£20,500,000 exports ; and of this enormous total Great 

Britain and her Colonies (including Hongkong) claimed 

60 per cent., or £28,500,000; and Great Britain alone 

£8,000,000, over three-fourths of which were expended by 

China in imports from this country. If we take the returns 

of shipping, the British preponderance was even more clearly 

marked ; for out of a total of 29,500,000 tons that entered 

and cleared from the Treaty Ports in 1892, 65 per cent., or 

nearly 19,500,000 tons, were British vessels; Germany, the 

next European competitor, having only 1,500,000.^ Taught 

by us, the Chinese themselves now absorb no inconsiderable 

part of the Treaty Port trade ; but the vessels which Chinese 

merchants own and run are commanded by British officers, 

and are guided into the rivers and harbours by British pilots. 

Nor is this trade, immense though it seems to be in 

relation to the time within which it has been developed, 

1 The Returns for 1893 showed that the total value of Chiuese Foreign 
Trade had increased by £6,000,000. The British share of the total was 
5(3 per cent., and of the shipping 65 per cent. In 1894, in spite of the war, 
there was a continued rise, and the British share, both in trade and in 
shipi^ing, amounted to 69 per cent., and in tlie carrying trade to 61 per cent., 
or out of the carrying trade under a foreign tiag, to 83 per cent. 



282 CHINA 

more thaii a fraction of what, under more favourable con- 
ditions, may be expected in the future. When we reflect 
that to supply the needs of a population of 350,000,000 
there are only twenty-four ports at which foreign commerce 
is allowed in the first place to enter ;i that river navigation 
by steam, except upon the Yangtse, can scarcely be said to 
exist ; that vast markets are hidden away in the far interior 
which are practically under prevailing conditions inaccessible ; 
that the paucity and misery of communications are a by-word ; 
that every form of native entei'prise is strangled unless power- 
ful officials have a personal interest at stake ; that officialism 
operates everywhere by a mathematical progression of 
squeezes ; that the multiplication of inland likin or octroi 
stations swells the cost of foreign commodities to famine 
prices before they are offered for sale in the inland markets ; 
that China is deliberately throwing away her staple source 
of wealth, the tea-trade, by failure to adapt it to the altered 
requirements of consumers ; that in the same period in 
which she has doubled her trade Japan has trebled hers ; 
and that with 60,000,000 more mouths to feed and bodies 
to clothe, her total commerce is yet £80,000,000 less per 
annum than that of India : when all these facts are re- 
membered, it cannot be doubted that, compared with what 
might be, and some day will be done, we are only standing 
on the threshold of Chinese commercial expansion. 

^ The Treaty Ports, opened by various Treaties or Conventious with Great 
Britain, France, and Germany, since the Nanking Treaty in 1842, are as 
follows : Canton (with Customs stations at Kowloon and Lappa), Amoy, 
Foochow, Ningpo, Shanghai, Nanking, Tientsin, Newchwang, Chef oo, Swatow, 
Kiungchow (in Hainan), Tamsui and Tainan, with their dependencies Kelung, 
Takow, and Anping in Formosa, Chinkiang, Kiukiang, Hankow, Ichang, 
Wuhu, Wenchow, Pakhoi, Chungking. The French, by a Trade Convention 
in 1887, also trade overland with Lungchow, Mengtse, and Manghao. By 
the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan (April 1895) the following additional 
ports have been opened : Shashih, Suchow, and Hangchow. By the Franco- 
Chinese Treaty of J\ine 1895 Hokeow has been substituted for Manghao, 
and Ssumao has become a Treaty Port, with rights of residence for a French 
Consul and French subjects. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 283 

Neither, in speaking of the occasional sources of friction 
between China and ourselves, do I allude to the Opium 
Question, which in the hands of enthusiastic or 
prejudiced ignorance in London has been pre- Qygg^ojj^ 
sented to English audiences in a guise that 
excites a smile in every Treaty Port in China. There, at 
least, everybody knows that the helpless Celestial is neither 
being forced nor befooled by an insidious and immoral 
Government at Calcutta; that if not an ounce of Indian 
opium ever again passed through a Chinese custona-house, 
Chinamen would go on smoking their own inferior drug as 
keenly as ever ; ^ and that the pretence that China is hostile 
to the British people or to Christian missions because we 
introduced to her the opium habit (which she had already 
practised for centuries), is about as rational as to say that the 
national soreness that sometimes arises between England and 
France is due to our resentment at having to cross the 
Channel for our best brandy. In any case, long before our 
domestic Puritans have purged the national conscience of 
what they style this great sin, the Opium Question will have 
settled itself by the rapid decline of the Indian import and 
the acceptance by China herself of the undivided responsi- 
bility for her own moral welfare. 

There remains the Missionary movement in China, which, 
next to, perhaps even more than, the merchants, compels 
the attention of the British Foreign Office, and 
will here be .treated only in so far as it affects the Questions 
international relations between the two countries. 
The missionary himself resolutely declines to regard it from 
this standpoint. He conceives himself to be there in obedi- 
ence to a divine summons, and to be pursuing the noblest 

1 As it is, Indian opium is only smoked by about 2 in every 1000 of the 
population. 



284 CHINA 

of human callings. A friend of my own, an eminent divine 
in the English Church, speaking at Exeter Hall in answer to 
some observations which I had made in the columns of the 
Times upon Christian Missions in China, thus stated the case 
from the Church's point of view: — 

' The gain or loss to civilisation from Christian missions is not 
the question for the missionary. He is subject to a Master higher 
than any statesman or diplomatist of this world. It is not the 
missionary who has to reckon with the diplomatist^ but the diplo- 
matist with the missionary.' 

A variation of the same reply is that which I have in 
many lands received from the lips of missionaries, and which 
in their judgment appears to cut the ground away from all 
criticism, and to render argument superfluous. This is a 
repetition of the divine injunction which closes the Gospel 
of St. Matthew : ' Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost.' ^ Obedience to this supreme com- 
mand is the sole final test to which the missionary is willing 
to submit his action. He is the unworthy but chosen 
instrument of God himself. It is useless, as I have ex- 
perienced, to point out to him that the selection of a single 
passage from the preaching of the founder of one faith, as 
the sanction of a movement against all other faiths, is a 
dangerous experiment. If, for instance, the disciple of 
Confucius wei'e to quote an aphorism of that philosopher that 
justified the persecution of Christian missionaries as the 
sponsors of a mischievous innovation, what value would the 
Christian missionary attach to such a form of Chinese excul- 
pation } Equally useless is it to remind him that Christ 
Himself seems to have contemplated the likelihood of an 
unsuccessful or inopportune propaganda when He said : 
J Matt, xxviii. 19. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 285 

' When they persecute you in this city^ flee ye into another' ;i 
and again : ' Whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you, 
when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet 
for a testimony against them.' ^ The authority which the 
missionary enthusiast is willing to attach to the ukase that 
accredits his enthusiasm, he ignores or deprecates when it 
appears to quaUfy its sanction. To him the course is clear, 
and has been mapped out in advance by a higher hand. 
That governments should fight, or that international relations 
should be imperilled over his , wrecked house or insulted 
person, would strike him as but a feather's weight in the 
scale compared with the great final issue at stake — viz. the 
spiritual regeneration of a vast country and a mighty popu- 
lation plunged in heathenism and sin. Just, however, as the 
statesman is frequently called upon to correct the fighting 
general's plan of campaign in the light of diplomatic possi- 
bilities, so the impartial observer must submit even the 
impassioned apologia of the Christian evangelist to the cold 
test of political and practical analysis. 

In endeavouring to arrive at an opinion upon so vexed a 
question, the risks, even after a careful study upon two 
separate occasions on the spot, of involuntary 
ignorance or unconscious bias, are so great that it j^jjggjQjjg 
will perhaps be wisest to state the case pro and 
con with as much fulness as space will pei'mit, leaving the 
reader to form his own conclusion. The facts are these. 
Whilst the Jesuit missionaries have been in China for cen- 
turies, and in many cases have done splendid work, the 
Protestant missions (of whom, principally, I desire to speak) 
in the main date their institution from the Treaties that 
closed the first China war fifty years ago,^ and the second in 

1 Matt. X. 23. " Mark vi. 11. 

3 The first Protestant missionary in China was the Rev. R. Morrison, who 



286 CHINA 

1858-60, Whereas in 1844 there were but thirty Protestant 
missionaries in China, their numerical strength in 1890 was 
1300 (including women), and in 1894 was said to be 1511. 
The total strength of all Christian missionaries in China is 
said to be 2000. Every year America, Canada, Australia, 
Sweden, and in a not inferior degree England, pour fresh 
recruits into the field, and the money that is subscribed for 
their support and that of their propaganda excels the 
revenue of many States. The question is. How do the 
soldiers of this costly crusade acquit themselves .'' 

The points that will universally be conceded in their 

favour are as follows : The devotion and self-sacrifice of 

many of their lives (particularly of those who in 

1 heir good jj^tive dress visit or inhabit the far interior), and 

service. ^' 

the example of pious fortitude set to those among 
whom they labour; the influence of the education and 
culture thus diffused in kindling the softer virtues and in 
ameliorating the conditions of life ; the slow but certain 
spread of Western knowledge ; the visible products of 
organised philanthropy in the shape of hospitals, medical 
dispensaries, orphanages, relief distribution, and schools ; 
the occasional winning of genuine and noble-hearted con- 
verts from the enemy's fold ; ^ the exalted character of the 
spiritual sanction claimed by the missionaries ; the plausi- 
bility of the analogy drawn by them from the tardy incep- 
tion of Christian labour in other countries and earlier times ; 
the excellent work done by missionaries in writing learned, 

came to Canton in 1807, and published his famous dictionary and translation 
of the Bible in 1823. But this was all the more remarkable for being an 
isolated effort. 

1 A hostile critic might retort that the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, 
who was a Christian convert, and as such was hailed bj^ many of the mission- 
aries as the herald of a new dispensation, succeeded in nothing better than 
in devastating thirteen out of the eighteen provinces of China, and in sacri- 
ficing the lives (at the lowest computation) of 20,000,000 men. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 287 

though often unreadable, essays about the country and 
people. 

I should be the last person to claim that even this tabu- 
lated statement contained a complete record of the good work 
done by the missionaries. Much of their labour is 

necessai'ilv devoid of immediate result, and is in- !i°^^"^j 
•' ' the seed. 

capable of being scientifically registered in a me- 
morandum. They sow the seed ; and if it does not fructify in 
their day or before our eyes, it may well be germinating for a 
future eartirae. No fair critic would withhold fi-om the Chris- 
tian missions in China the credit of any prospective harvest 
that may be reaped by their successors when they have gone. 
On the other hand, it would be foolish to deny that in 
China their operations evoke a criticism, even at the hands 

of their own countrymen, of which Exeter Hall „, . ^. 

•' ' Objections 

very likely has no inkling, but which in China and draw- 

itself, where Exeter Hall has never been heard 

of, is not to be despised ; and that there are features in 

their condvict of the campaign which may be said, not 

altogether unwarrantably, to furnish the enemy with cause 

to blaspheme. The alleged drawbacks to the work, or at 

least to the modus operandi of the missionaries, fall under 

three heads: (1) religious and doctrinal; (2) political; and 

(3) practical ; with each of which I will deal in turn. 

With rare exceptions, more liberal-minded than their 

fellows, the missionaries adopt an attitude of implacable 

hostility to all native religions and ethics, isnor- 

^ * *= I. Rail- 

ing alike their virtuous aspects and influence, the gious and 

all-powerful hold which they have acquired upon t^^ 5\"f ' 

Chinese character, and the sanction lent to them to Chinese 

ethics. 
by a venerable antiquity. Particularly is this 

the case with regard to ancestor-worship, with which they 

decline all parley ; although a rare retort would appear to 



288 CHINA 

be open to a Chinaman in England who accidentally found 
his way into Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's. In 1790 
the young Christian Church in Korea, very much exei-cised 
about this question, sent to the Roman Catholic bishop at 
Peking to inquire what its members ought to do. The 
response came that ancestor-worship of any kind or in any 
degree was incompatible with Christianity, and that no 
Koi-ean could be a Christian who worshipped or burned 
incense before the family tablets. What the French bishop 
then answered, his coreligionists have always answered ; 
and the same reply was from the earliest period returned 
by the Protestant missions also. I am not here concerned 
with the doctrinal justice of this decision, which is a matter 
for theologians rather than for the lay mind. I am 
interested only in pointing out the inevitable consequences 
of such an attitude. The Chinaman, who is entirely 
content with his own religion, and only asks to be left 
alone, is assailed by a propaganda that commences with an 
attack upon all that he holds most dear. To him the 
ethics of Confucius sum up the whole duty of man to the 
family and the State ; while the payment of homage to 
the higher powers is provided for by the polytheistic 
conceptions of the Buddhist cult. He hears the former 
disparaged, the latter derided. He is invited to become 
a convert at the cost of ceasing to be a citizen ; to tear 
up the sheet-anchor of all morality as the first condition 
of moral regeneration. Sntiall wonder that a propaganda, 
which thus lays the axe to the very root of the tree, 
should encounter the stubborn resistance of all those who 
have been accustomed to seek shelter under its branches.^ 

1 It is equally beginning at the wrong end to adopt the needless subser- 
vience to native superstitions that is in vogue at some of the Catholic 
establishments ; e.g. in the Lazarist Orplianage at Kiukiang, where the feet 
of girls are deformed in order to conciliate native opinion. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 289 

If the evangelists of some new faith were to appear in 
England, drawn from a race whom we hated and despised, 
and were to commence their preaching by denouncing the 
Bible, and crying Anathema upon the Apostles' Creed, 
what sort of reception would they meet with ? Moreover, 
this attitude on the part of the missionaries incurs the 
risk of defeating its own object; for such iconoclasm, in 
the eyes of many critics, could only, even if successful, 
lead to two results, both equally to be deplored — the 
complete disintegration of the Chinese social fabric, and 
the collapse of Chinese morality. 

While thus warring with the most cherished beliefs of 
their hoped-for converts, the missionaries have not agreed 

among themselves as to the Chinese word to „. 

^ Disputes as 

express the single Deity whom they preach, to name of 
and for whom the Jesuits, the Americans, and 
the English have at different times employed different 
titles, with the result of complete bewilderment to the 
native understanding, ill able to cope with the subtleties 
of theological logomachy. The first-named adopt the 
title Tien Chu, i.e. Lord of Heaven. The Americans and 
some English prefer the more impalpable Chen Shen, i.e. 
True Spirit. The English Protestants and American 
Methodists adopt the Chinese Shang-ti, or Supreme Lord, 
the Deity whose worship (a survival of the primitive nature 
worship) I have described upon the Altar of Heaven at 
Peking. Indeed, I have heard of an English missionary 
who, in the old days when the latter enclosure was 
accessible to foreigners, is said to have conducted a service 
of the Church of England on the summit of the marble 
altar. 

Still less do the foreign teachers coincide upon the form 
of religion itself, which is promulgated by the divines of 

T 



290 CHINA 

a score of different schools, each claiming the accredited 
custody of the oracles of God. To Chinamen a separate 
. , sect is not always distinguishable from a separate 
form of creed ; and between Jesuits, Lazarists, Trap- 

pists, Russian Greeks, Protestants, Churches 
of England, Scotland, Canada, and America, Baptists, 
Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, 
Free Christians, and all the self-accredited polyonymous 
missionary societies, he finds it hard to determine who are 
the true and who the false prophets, or whether any are 
true at all. Again, conceive the parallel case in our own 
country. Suppose the apostles of some new manifestation 
to reach our shores with a creed in their pockets that 
claimed a supernatural origin and a divine authority ; and 
suppose these pioneers to be presently succeeded by others, 
not in one batch only, or in half a dozen, or in a dozen, 
but in a score of detachments, each proclaiming the 
fallibility or spuriousness of the others, and its own superior 
authentication — what should we say to these bearers of the 
heavenly message, who could not even agree together upon 
its terms } 

Another cause for stumbling has been supplied by the 
circulation of imperfectly revised translations of the Bible 

through the country. The missionary societies do 

Unrevised j^^^. gggj^^ j-q have sufficiently realised that the 

transla- ■ •' 

tions of Holy Scriptures, which require in places some 

tures. explanation, if not some expurgation, for ourselves, 

may stand in still greater need of editing for a 
community who care nothing about the customs or pre- 
possessions of the ancient Jews, but who are invited to 
accept the entire volume as a revelation from on high. I 
am aware of a so-called English missionary who rampages 
about Central Asia with the funds supplied by societies at 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 29 1 

home, and who, taking with him a portmanteau full of 

Bibles, thinks that by dropping its contents here and there, 

he is winning recruits to the fold of Christ. What is the 

educated Chinaman likely to think, for instance, of Samuel 

hewing Agag in pieces before the Lord, or of David setting 

Uriah in the forefront of the battle, and commissioning 

Solomon to slay Shimei, whose life he had himself sworn 

to spare, or of Solomon exchanging love-lyrics with the 

Shulamite woman ? Even in the New Testament the 

bidding to forsake father and mother for the sake of Christ 

must to the Chinaman's eyes be the height of profanity, 

whilst if he can follow the logic of St. Paul, he accomplishes 

that which is beyond the power of many educated Christians. 

To the Chinese people, who have great faith but little hope 

in their own creeds, a simple statement of the teaching of 

Christ might be a glorious and welcome revelation. But 

the text of the Scriptures, unsoftened and unexplained, has 

no such necessary effect, and is capable, in ingenious hands 

(as the Hunan publications sufficiently showed), of being 

converted into an argument against that which it is intended 

to support. 

If the text of the Bible is thus wrested into a cause of 

offence, neither is the intrinsic abstruseness of the dogma 

which it inculcates easy of interpretation in a 

manner that conveys enlightenment to the Chinese •■ '^'^ ^^^ 
•> o dogma. 

intellect. The mysteries, for instance, attaching 

to the Christian theogony, and to the doctrine of the Trinity, 

whilst to the believer they only supply welcome material 

for faith, are to the unbeliever excellent ground for 

suspicion. 

Finally, the religion whose vehicles of diffusion I have 
discussed is disseminated in many cases by a number of 
irresponsible itinerants, each of whom is a law unto himself, 



292 CHINA 

many of whom disown communion with any Church, and 

whose single-minded fervour is dearly purchased at the cost 

of the doctrinal confusion entailed. Some of my 
Irresponsi- 
ble itine- own schoolfellows had felt the call, and had 

rancy. spontaneously given to China what was meant for 

mankind. Upon inquiry as to their whereabouts and doings, 

I learned that more than one had severed his connection 

with any denomination, and was proceeding against the 

infidel upon his own plan of campaign. This may be 

magnificent, but it is not scientific warfare. 

The political drawbacks to the missionaries' work are less 

exclusively matters of their own creation. China can never 

forget that, unlike the Christians in early Rome, 
2. Political. 1 ^ , , „ , 1 

in early Gaul, or in early JBi-itain, they owe their 

admission here to no tacit acquiescence on her own part, 

much less to any expressed desire ; but solely to the coercion 

of a superior and victorious strength. Each station is a 

sardonic reminder to them that they have been made to pass 

under the Caudine Forks. Nay, it is more ; for it is a 

reminder of the duplicity as well as of the power of the 

conqueror ; seeing that the right of residence in the interior 

of China is only enjoyed by the British and other missionaries 

in virtue of the most favoured nation clause in our own 

Treaty, taking advantage of a spurious paragraph introduced 

by a French missionary into the Chinese text of the French 

Treaty of I860, and either not discovered by the Chinese, 

or not repudiated by them until it was too late. Let me 

briefly recapitulate the history of this curious and not 

altogether creditable page of history. 

The only passage in Lord Elgin's Treaty of 

of the Tientsin in 1858, relating directly to the mission- 

rea les. aries, is that commonly known as the Toleration 

Clause, which was copied without substantial alteration from 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 293 

the treaties already concluded by China with Russia and the 
United States. Article viii. of the English Treaty runs as 
follows : — 

'^The Christian religion, as professed by Protestants and Roman 
Catholics^ inculcates the practice of virtue^ and teaches man to 
do as he would be done by. Persons teaching or professing it, 
therefore, shall alike be entitled to the protection of the Chinese 
authorities ; nor shall any such, peaceably pursuing their calling, 
and not offending against the law, be persecuted or interfered 
with. ' 

A later clause in the same treaty (Article xii.) was sub- 
sequently appealed to as giving English missionaries the 
right to rent or own land and buildings in the interior : — 

•^ British subjects, whether at the ports or at other places, desiring 
to build or open houses, warehouses, churches, hospitals, or burial- 
grounds, shall make their agreement for the land or buildings they 
require at the rates prevailing among the people, equitably and 
without exactions on either side. ' 

But it was then explained, and has always been held by 
the British Government, that the words, ' at other places^ 
upon which alone the pretension rested, had never been 
intended to confer, and could not be construed as conferring, 
such a right, Lord Elgin having only introduced them in 
order to cover the case of places such as Whampoa, Woosung, 
and Taku, which are situated respectively at the distance of 
a few miles below Canton, Shanghai, and Tientsin, and where 
it might be found desirable, instead of or in addition to the 
Treaty Ports, to establish foreign settlements. Indeed, if 
the words had meant places in the interior promiscuously, 
there would obviously have been no necessity for subsequent 
treaties opening fresh Treaty Ports, which concessions have 
only been procured as a compensation for outrage, or with 
immense difficulty. 

The British Treaties, accordingly, while they secure to 



294 CHINA 

the missionary full protection everywhere in the pursuit of 
his calling, and in the possession of house and church 
property in the Treaty Ports, do not give him the right 
either of residence or of ownership in the interior. It was 
reserved for the French to supply the deficiency. 

Already, in the French Treaty of 1858, the privileges 
above mentioned had been definitely guaranteed. Article 
xni. says, in terms not unlike those of the English 
Treaty : — 

"^The Christian religion having for its essential object the leading 
of men to virtue, the members of all Christian communities shall 
enjoy entire security for their persons and property, and the free 
exercise of their religion ; and efficient protection shall be given 
to missionaries who travel peaceably in the interior, furnished with 
passports as provided for in Article viii. No hindrance shall be 
offered by the authorities of the Chinese Empire to the recognised 
right of every individual in China to embrace, if he so please, 
Christianity, and to follow its practices without being liable to any 
punishment therefor. ' 

Two years later, after the capture of Peking and the 
sacking of the Summer Palace by the allied forces, both 
England and France exacted supplementary Conventions, 
which were signed at Peking in I860. Article vi. of the 
French Convention stipulated for the restoration to them 
of the religious and philanthropic establishments, the ceme- 
teries, and other dependencies which had been confiscated 
during the persecutions. At this juncture and in this 
section of the treaty it was, that a French missionary, 
acting as interpreter for the French mission, introduced the 
following clause into the Chinese text, while the document 
was being transcribed : — 

' It is, in addition, permitted to French missionaries to rent and 
purchase land in all the provinces and to erect buildings thereon 
at pleasure.' 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 295 

Now by Article iii. of the previous Treaty of Tienstin 
(1858) it had abeady been agreed that the French text 
should be considered the authoritative version ; and there- 
fore this clause, thus surreptitiously interpolated into the 
Chinese text only, and not to be found in the French text, 
was invalid ab initio. The Chinese, howevei", did not at 
once detect the fraud; and when they did, were either too 
proud or too fearful of the consequences to contest the point. 
The British Government professed its readiness to retire 
fi'om a position which had no solid or legitimate foundation. 
But as the claim was consistently vindicated by the French, 
without serious protest from the Chinese, so the British 
tacitly acquired the right also ; and to it is owing the 
privileged status which the missionaries now enjoy, and 
which is not shared by a single other class of their country- 
men. 

Though the Chinese did not repudiate the interpolated 
clause, there was nevertheless some dispute and correspond- 
ence thereupon; which culminated, in 1865, in an under- 
standing between the Tsungli Yamen and the then French 
Minister as to the exact interpretation that was to be placed 
upon it. Among other things, it was agreed that property 
acquired by French missionaries in the interior should be 
registered in the name, not of individual mission- 

ai'ies or converts, but of the parent society. " ^f' 

' i •' quent 

Other stipulations pi-ovided for due notice to under- 

1 1 1 1 • • c 1 . • . standing, 

the local authorities or the intention to acquire 

property, etc., in the interior.^ As a matter of fact, these 

conditions are not always observed by the Protestant 

missionaries, much of the property acquired by them being 

1 In December 1894, M. Gerard, the French Minister at Peking, taking 
advantage of the recovered influence of France, hunted up the Berthemy 
Convention of 1865, and procured its formal ratification by the Tsungli 
Yamen, and its official circulation to the Provincial Governors. 



296 CHINA 

registered and held in the name of converts, and made 
over by private agreement to the foreign missionary. 

In the diplomatic complications arising out of the mission- 
ary massacres at Wuhu and Wuhsueh in 1891, the combined 
, . , pressure of the foreign representatives, reinforced 
Edict of by gunboats, availed to extract from the Chinese 
Government an Imperial Edict, which was pub- 
lished in the Peldng Gazette of June 13, 1891, and was 
ordered to be posted in the principal cities of the Empire — 
an order which, it is needless to add, the Provincial 
Governors, wherever they conveniently could, disobeyed. 
To this decree the Christian missionaries are now disposed 
to look as the charter of their liberties, confirming and to 
some extent superseding the text of the Treaties. After 
directing the civil and military authorities in the disturbed 
provinces to arrest and try the principal criminals, and to 
condemn the guilty to death, the Emperor proceeded with 
this general statement of the missionaries' rights : — 

' The right of foreign missionaries to promulgate their religions 
in China is provided for by Treaty and by Edicts which were pre- 
viously issued ; the authorities of all the provinces were com- 
manded to aiford them protection as circumstances required. . . . 
The religions of the West have for their object the inculcation of 
virtue, and though people become con^'erts they still remain 
Chinese subjects, and continue to be amenable to the jurisdiction 
of the local authorities. There is no reason why there should not 
be harmony between the ordinary people and the adherents of 
foreign religions ; and the whole trouble arises from lawless 
ruffians fabricating baseless stories and making an opportunity for 
creating disturbance. These bad characters exist everywhere. 
We command the Manchu Generals-in-Chief, the Viceroys and 
Governors in all the provinces, to issue proclamations clearly ex- 
plaining to the people that they must on no account give a ready 
ear to such idle tales and wantonly cause trouble. Let all who 
post anonymous placards and spread false rumours, inflaming the 
minds of the people, be at once arrested and severely punished. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 297 

The local authorities are bound to aiFord due protection at all 
times to the persons and property of foreign merchants and foreign 
missionaries^ and must not allow them to be injured or molested 
by evil cliaracters. Should the precautionary measures be lacking 
in stringency, and trouble be the result, we command that the 
local authorities be severely denounced.' ^ 

This decree may perhaps be said to cover and condone 
any previously existing flaw in the missionaries' position, and 
to lend a direct Imperial sanction to their presence and pro- 
paganda in the interior. Extracted as it was, however, by 
sheer compulsion from the Chinese Government, and in the 
main dictated by the foreign Ministers, it represents no 
spontaneous change of attitude on the part of the former ; 
whilst it is to be feared that its practical influence will be 
very small. 

Such is the history of the circumstances under which 
the Christian missionaries have gained a foothold in the 
interior of the Chinese Empire. If the Chinese, 
with their ingrained disposition to accept facts, g^f^^^ts 
have forgotten alike the duplicity of the foreigner 
and their own humiliation, nevertheless the presence of 
the missionaries is a testimony to the continued ascendency 
of an alien Power, still maintained, as it was originally 
introduced, by force. As such the Chinese, who dislike 
all foreigners, regard the missionaries in particular with an 
intense aversion, considering them the agents of a policy 
which has been and is forced upon them in opposition both 
to the interests of the Government, the sentiments of the 
literati, and the convictions of the people. A converse illustra- 
tion, minus the stimulus of the odium theologicum, is supplied 
by the detestation with which the Chinese immigrant is 
himself elsewhere regarded by the white man, by the 
Australian in Sydney, or the American in San Francisco. 
1 Parliamentary Blue Book, China, No. 1, 1892. 



298 CHINA 

Nor is this impression diminished by the attitude of the 

missionaries themselves, many of whom, though they 

„, , buckle on their armour as the soldiers of Christ, 

The appeal 

for gun- remember only in times of peril that they are 

citizens of this or that empire or republic, and 

clamour for a gunboat with which to insure respect for 

the Gospel. To this too ready appeal to the physical 

sanction of a national flag there are many honourable 

exceptions — men who carry their lives in their hands, and 

uncomplainingly submit to indignities which they have 

undertaken to endure in a higher cause than that of their 

nationality. Nevertheless the presence of the missionary 

bodies as a whole in the country is a constant anxiety to 

the Legations, by whom in the last resort their interests, 

resting as they do upon treaties, must be defended ; and 

is equally distasteful to the Chinese Government, which 

frequently finds itself called upon to reprimand a native 

official or to punish a local community at the cost of great 

odium to itself. This is the explanation of the extreme 

reluctance exhibited, as a rule, by the central authority 

in bringing to justice the notorious authors of calumny or 

outrage. The secret sympathies of the people are behind 

the malefactor; and the Government feels that it may be 

straining a bond of allegiance, which already, in the case 

of many of the outlying provinces, is stretched almost to 

the point of rupture. 

In some districts the unpopularity of the missionaries 

has been increased by the special privileges which they 

T, . ., are disposed to claim on behalf of native converts 

rnvileges ^ 

claimed for engaged in litigation or other disputes ; and by 

their interference in the civil affairs of the 

neighbourhood in which they reside. Just as in Southern 

India many a iiative becomes a Christian in order to get 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 299 

a situation as a servant or a clerk, so in China it not 

infrequently happens that a shady character will suddenly 

find salvation for the sake of the material advantages or 

protection which it may be expected to confer upon him. 

But to the thoughtful Chinaman's eye, penetrating a 

little below the surface, the real political danger is more 

deeply rooted than any such superficial symptoms . . 

might appear to suggest. He sees in missionary rium hi 
, . , /. . . T • • imperio. 

enterprise the existence oi an insidious impermvi 

in imj:)erio, of a secret society hostile to the commonwealth, 
of damage and detriment to the State. He remembers 
that the most frightful visitation which China has suffered 
in modern times, the Taiping rebellion, by which over 
20,000,000 of her people perished, was in its inception a 
Christian movement, led by an alleged Christian convert, 
and projected to Christianise his countrymen ; and with 
these experiences before him he may well feel qualms at 
any signs of increasing missionary influence. In the case 
of the French missions, with whom as Roman Catholics I 
have not here been dealing, there is an additional ground 
for mistrust; for the Chinese see that the French Govern- 
ment is here engaged in forcing upon them the very men 
and the selfsame religion whom it has sought to expel from 
its own land — an act of duplicity which in their minds can 
only mask some dark political cabal. 

It is sometimes said by missionary champions, that of 
the recurring outbreaks against them, the missionaries, 
though the victims, are commonly not the cause; p. , 
the movement being in reality a deep-seated plot political 
concocted by political malcontents to embroil 
either the provincial with the Imperial Government, or the 
latter with foreign Powers. How far this is the case there 
exist few means of accurately determining. But the plea 



300 CHINA 

is believed, by those who know best, to be destitute of 
validity ; though there are obvious reasons for its en- 
couragement by the Tsungli Yamen^ who can thereby 
plead internal disorder as an excuse for their own responsi- 
bility. 

Finally^ there are the practical charges brought against 
the v/ork, arising partly from the missionaries' own conduct, 

p . . partly from the gross superstitions of the people. 

Mission Of the former character are the allegations that 

life 

are so frequently made, not without apparent 

justification, about the personnel and surroundings of the 
missions, particularly in the Treaty Ports ; about the lack 
of personal aptitudes, inseparable from a career that has 
already in some cases, especially in that of the American 
missionaries, come to be regarded as a profession ; and 
about the well-appointed houses, the comfortable manner 
of living, the summer exodus to the hills, the domestic 
engrossments and large families, which, strange to say, are 
encouraged by a liberal subsidy from the parent society 
for each new arrival in the missionary nursery. 

Another source of misunderstanding is the constantly 
increasing employment of women, and particularly of 
p , unmarried women, by the missionary bodies. A 

ment of steamer rarely sails from the American shores 
for Yokohama without carrying a bevy of young 
girls, fresh from the schoolroom or the seminary, who, 
with the impulsive innocence of youth, are about to devote 
their young lives and energies to what they conceive to be 
the noblest of purposes in Japan or China. A scarcely in- 
ferior stream of female recruitment flows in from the United 
Kingdom and the Colonies.^ Now I do not say that the 

1 Of the 1300 Protestant missionaries in China in 1890, as many as 700, or 
more than half, were women ; and of these 316 were unmarried women. 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 301 

work of the female missionary is thrown away, or that there 
may not be cases in which her devotion reaps an ample 
harvest. Neither do I presume for one moment to qviestion 
the honestv self-sacrifice of the act ; but I do say that in a 
country like China — where, on the one hand, very different 
notions of the emancipation of women prevail from those to 
which we are accustomed, and on the other hand an element 
of almost brutal coarseness enters largely into the composi- 
tion of the native character — the institution of sisterhoods, 
planted alongside of male establishments, the spectacle of 
unmarried persons of both sexes residing and working to- 
gether, both in public and in private, and of girls making 
long journeys into the interior without responsible escort, 
are sources of a misunderstanding at which the pure-minded 
may aiford to scoff, but which in many cases has more to do 
with anti-missionary feeling in China than any amount of 
national hostility or doctrinal antagonism. In 1893, at the 
remote inland town of Kiiei-hwa-cheng, a friend of mine 
encountered a missionary community consisting of one male 
and of twenty Swedish girls. The propaganda of the latter 
consisted in parading the streets and singing hymns to the 
strumming of tambourines and guitars. The society that 
that had committed the outrage of sending out these inno- 
cent girls only allowed them $200, or £27, 10s. a year 
apiece, for board, lodging, and clothing. As a consequence 
they were destitute of the smallest comforts of life, and 
could not even perform their toilette without the imperti- 
nent eyes of Chinamen being directed upon them through 
the paper screens. Can anything more futile than such an 
enterprise be conceived, or more culpable ? The popular 
feeling against female missionaries was illustrated in the 
recent massacres at Kutien (August 1895), where out of ten 
persons that perished, eight were women. 



304 CHINA 

ages of the Christian societies have sometimes been recruited 
for with a not too judicious avidity by their philanthropic 
patrons ; while they receive many miserable inmates whom 
an early death overtakes in the natural course of things. It 
is firmly believed by the masses in China that foundlings are 
taken in^ and that sick women and children are enticed to 
these institutions to be murdered by the missionaries for the 
sake of the therapeutic or chemical properties attaching to 
their viscera, or eyes, or brains. 

It must be remembered that in the Chinese pharma- 
copoeia anthropophagous remedies are held in the highest 
esteem ; and that particular parts of the human body, 
administered in powders or decoctions, are recommended 
as a sovereign remedy. A son who thus sacrifices some 
portion of his flesh for a sick parent, or a wife for an invalid 
husband, is regarded as having performed the most meritorious 
of acts, and is sometimes rewarded by the provincial Govern- 
ment with a. imilow, or commemorative arch. The xnedicines 
distributed in the mission dispensaiy, the chemicals employed 
in the scientific processes, such as photography, to which the 
foreign magician is prone, have undoubtedly, in the eyes of 
the ignorant masses, been obtained by these methods. It 
Avas to such a belief that the famous Tientsin massacres in 
1870, the Wuhsueh murders in 1891, and the Cheng-tu 
outrages in 1895, were mainly due; and when these horrible 
charges are reinforced by every variety of pamphlet and 
leaflet and filthy caricature and obscene lampoon, issued 
with the secret connivance of the local authority, as in the 
publications of the notorious Chow Han in 1891, in the 
province of Hunan, it may readily be conceived what a 
terrible and almost insurmountable weight of prejudice is 
excited. To intelligent pei'sons all this may sound senseless 
and irl'ational enough ; but again I am compelled to remind 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 305 

my readers that to this day there are many parts of Europe 
where precisely analogous superstitions prevail among the 
ignorant peasantry, against the Jews in particular ; and that 
the last decade alone has witnessed a longer list of murders 
and outrages in Christian Europe, due to an almost identical 
cause, than has been contributed in the same period by the 
whole of pagan China. 

Such, briefly summarised, is a list of the main drawbacks, 
or in some cases failings, by which the Protestant missionary 
movement in China is retarded. I refrain from 
indicating any personal acceptance of their truth, ^"^"^'"S 
since it ixiay be said that my opportunities for 
forming a trustworthy judgment have not, in spite of two 
visits to the country, been sufficient; but I state them as 
I have derived them orally from numerous resident authori- 
ties, as well as from the study of newspapers published in 
China, of official reports, and of the writings and speeches of 
the missionaries themselves. ^ I have no other desire than to 
enable my readers, firstly, to see that there are two sides to 
the missionary question, and secondly, before making up 
their own minds upon it, to form some idea of what those 
sides are. 

Whatever the proportion of truth or falsehood in this pre- 
sentment of the case, there seems, at least to my mind, to be 

small doubt that the cause of Christianity is not 

•^ Results. 

advancing in China with a rapidity in the least 

commensurate to the prodigious outlay of money, self- 

^ For the study of the question may be recommended, The Anti- Foreign 
Riots in Cliina in 1891, republished from the Worth China Herald at 
Shanghai ; The Parliamentarij Blue Books, China No. 1, 1891 ; No. 2, 1892 ; 
a recent pamphlet by INIr. C. T. Gardner, of the British Consular Service in 
China ; and above all, two excellent brochures entitled Missionaries in 
Cliina, and Cliina and Christianity, by Mr. A. Michie of Tientsin, an 
authority whose writings on all subjects connected with China are dis- 
tinguished both by remarkable insight and great literary ability. 



306 CHINA 

sacrifice, and human power. To many it appears to be 
receding. Such, of course^ is not the impression that will 
be derived from missionary publications. But, if we accept 
their own figures, which in the year 1 890 showed a total of 
1300 Protestant missionaries (women included) and only 
37,300 native converts,^ or a fold of less than SO to each 
shepherd, and a proportion of only one in every 10,000 of 
the Chinese population, it must be admitted that the 
surviving harvest after half a century's labour is not 
large. ^ Meanwhile the temper of the native peoples may 
be gathered from the incidents of contemporary history. 
During the short time that I was in the China Seas in 
1892, three fresh cases were recorded of aggravated assault 
upon missionaries and their wives. Since then two un- 
offending Swedish missionaries have been brutally murdered 
at Sungpu. In the spring of 1895 occured the Szechuan 
riots at Cheng-tu and other places ; and then in August 
ensued the ghastly atrocities, involving the murder of ten 
persons, at Kutien. This does not look as though the reign 
of peace had yet dawned. 

Here, however, I am only concerned with the danger that 
a movement exposed, whether justly or unjustly, to these 
attacks must entail upon the general interests of foreign 
Powers in China. Those interests are not solely co-extensive 

1 The missionaries have exi^lained that these are 'the inner circle of 
communicants' only. They claim that if 'the whole number of adherents 
be reckoned, including baptized persons who are not communicants, and hmut, 
fide candidates for baptism,' the total must be multiplied by at least three, 
perhaps by four. To a layman, however, these grades of jjroselytism are a 
little puzzling. 

" A few years ago the Roman Catholics jiublished the figures of their 
missions in China, which were as follows : Bishops 41, European priests 664, 
Native priests 559, 'Colleges [34, Convents ^34, [Native converts 1,092,818. 
Thus, for one-half the number of European missionaries, they have thirty 
times the number of disciples. On the other hand, they have the advantage 
of a much older establishment, 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 307 

with the work of evangelisation. They embrace the entire 

field of international relationship upon which peoples meet 

and hold intercourse; and it should be the first 

object of diplomacy to remove from this arena, or ^^^ "S^^ 

policy. 
at least to minimise upon its surface, all possible Respect 

sources of complication. The Christian missions l^^ ^^? 
are in China ; they were introduced there by our- 
selves; they were accepted or at least submitted to by the 
Chinese Government; there we have hitherto maintained 
them ; there undoubtedly they will remain. However much 
the unfriendly critic might welcome their wholesale de- 
portation, no such solution is practicable. So long as the 
Treaties are not rescinded, their obligation can neither be 
evaded by foreign Governments nor trampled on with 
impunity by the Chinese. Whether it was wise or not 
to introduce missionaries in the first place, China, having 
undertaken to protect their persons and to tolerate their 
faith, must fulfil her pledge, and cannot be permitted to 
combine a mere lip respect for the engagement with secret 
connivance at its violation. Still less must the idea be 
allowed to prevail that a mere money compensation will 
suffice to expiate any or every outrage. The exaction of 
blood-money is at the best but a poor form of diplomatic 
amends ; but blood-money in return for the lives of innocent 
men, whose protection has been guaranteed by treaty, and 
who have been brutally done to death, is almost an aggrava- 
tion of the offence. The Chinese themselves will be the 
last to feel surprise at an attitude of resolution on the part 
of the foreigner. Firmness is the only policy for which 
they entertain any respect. It would of course be best if, 
in all cases of outrage or crime, whether happening to an 
Englishman, a Frenchman, or an American, joint action 
were taken by all the Powers. Such united pressure it 



308 CHINA 

would be almost impossible to resist. Unfortunately, inter- 
national jealousies or differences render such a co-operation 
difficult of attainment ; and the steps in that direction which 
were taken, at Lord Salisbury's initiative, after the murders 
of 1891 J, and which assumed the form of a collective note 
addressed by the Powers to the Tsungli Yamen, failed in 
their object, owing to the withdrawal of the United States 
from the concert. That the action of a single Power, if 
taken with sufficient evidence of earnestness, is capable of 
bringing the Chinese Government to its knees, has been 
shown by the rapidity with which, as these pages go to 
print (October 18.95) Lord Salisbury's ultimatum in regard 
to the degradation of the late Viceroy of Szechuan, the 
proven author of the Cheng-tu riots, has been accepted, when 
backed up by the appearance of a British squadron in the 
Yangtse. 

Nevertheless, while the primary canon of political action 
should be the adequate fulfilment of admitted obligations, 

statesmanship has other and supplementary duties 
Stricter , , . . . , 

precau- to perform. It should aim at a cautious tightening 

tions. ^£ ^j^g reins, whereby the causes of offence may be 

abridged, the vagai-ies of indiscreet enthusiasm kept in 

check, and the political aspects of missionary enterprise 

contracted within the smallest possible dimensions. There 

are some who recommend that the missionaries should 

dispense with foreign protection altogether, and, proceeding 

without passports, should live as Chinese subjects under 

Chinese laws. Such a solution is probably more Quixotic 

than feasible, and might lead to worse disaster. A very 

strict revision, however, of the conditions of travel and 

residence in the interior is much to be desired. Some 

limitation ought to be placed upon the irresponsible vagrancy 

of European subjects over remote and fanatical parts of the 



CHINA AND THE POWERS 309 

Chinese dominions. Passports should be absolutely refused 
at the discretion of the Minister^ exercised with regard to 
the character both of the locality and the applicant. When 
granted, they might specify the name of the province, 
district, or town to which, and to which only, the bearer is 
accredited. Already they give a general sketch of the route 
which he proposes to follow. Upon his arrival he might be 
compelled to report himself to the local magistracy, and to 
notify his future movements to the latter. Such a demand 
has, I believe, more than once been made by the Chinese 
Government, but has been steadily refused. The relations 
between the civil authorities and the Christians in matters 
pertaining to the acquisition and tenure of land should be 
clearly defined and assimilated as far as possible to native 
custom. The opening of all mission establishments to the 
inspection of Government officials is recommended by some 
as an antidote to the horrible prevalent superstitions. Of 
more avail would it be to curtail within the narrowest limits 
the institutions, such as orphanages and sisterhoods, that 
give currency to these odious beliefs. The employment of 
hundreds of young unmarried foreign girls in various branches 
of missionary woi'k, though the most popular current phase 
of the movement, is greatly to be deprecated, as giving rise 
to the very pardonable misinterpretations of which I have 
spoken ; and ought to be curtailed by educated opinion at 
home. 

In the last resort mox'e will depend upon the character 
and conduct of the missionaries themselves than upon the 
checks devised by even a friendly diplomacy. 
Impulsive virtue and raw enthusiasm are not j^^^^gj.jj^j 
necessarily the best credentials for a missionary 
career. The sensational appeal from the platform of Exeter 
Hall, and the despatch of the heterogeneous company that 



310 CHINA 

respond to the summons, like a draft of young volunteer 
recruits to the theatre of war, are fraught with infinite 
danger. It behoves the parent societies, both in Great 
Britain and America, by a more careful choice of the men 
whom they send forth, and the emissaries themselves, by an 
anxious regulation of their own conduct, to anticipate and, 
if it may be, to avert the danger which, under existing 
conditions, confronts alike the interests of the country under 
whose flag they march, and the sublime cause to which they 
have devoted their lives. 



CHAPTER X 

THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 

Idem semper erit, quoniam semper fuit idem. 
Non alium videre jiatres aliumve nepotes 
Aspicient. Deus est qui non mutatur in sevo. 

Mahilius : Astron. i. 528-530. 

Seven years ago the Western, and I dare say the Eastern 
world also, in so far as it was made aware of the fact, was 
startled by the appearance in the pages of an 
English magazine of an article purporting to have ^ , ^"^ 
been written by the foremost Chinaman then 
living, a tried statesman and a successful ambassador, in 
which, with a skilfulness that was to be expected of his 
abilities, and with an emancipation of sentiment that was 
surprising in his nationality, he advanced the propositions that 
China had at length been aroused from her age-long sleep, 
and, with the same energy with which she had for so many 
centuries pursued and idealised the immobile, was about to 
enter into the turbulent competition of modern progress. ^ 
Possibly the Max'quis Tseng, assuming that he wrote the article 
— which I believe that there is good reason for doubting — may 
have believed in his own assurances ; unquestionably they 
proved palatable to the large class of European readers who 
cannot conceive of any standard of life, either for an individual 
or a nation, except that which prevails in the country of which 
they themselves are citizens, who bisect mankind into two 

1 'China, the Sleep and the Awakening,' by the Marquis Tseng. Asiatic 
Q^Mrtcrly Review, January 1887. 

311 



312 CHINA 

camps, the civilised and the barbarian, and hold it to be both 
the destiny and the duty of the latter to wear the former s 
gyves. Had China at last, the most arrogant of the rebels, 
the most formidable of the barbarians, been driven to capitu- 
late ? Was the Celestial about to sit, a chastened convert, at 
the feet of Western doctors ? So blessed a proclamation had 
not for long been spread abroad upon the earth ; and loud 
were the Hosannas that went up from chapel and con- 
venticle, from platform and pulpit and press, at these glad 
tidings of great joy. It may be worth our while, who are 
neither, like the Marquis Tseng, diplomats whose interest 
it is to conciliate, nor prophets who are ahead of our times, 
to examine how far it is true that China has really awakened 
from her ancestral sleep, or whether she may not merely have 
risen to stop the rattling of a window-sash, or the creaking 
of a shutter, that interferes with her quietude, with the fixed 
intention of settling down once more to the enjoyment of an 
unabashed repose. 

For now more than fifty years has the combined force of 

the Western nations, exercised commonly by diplomacy, 

frequently by threats, and sometimes by open 

A ac ica ^^ been directed against that immense and 

surrender. ' ° 

solid wall of conservative resistance, like the 
city walls of their own capital, which the Chinese oppose 
to any pressure from the outside. In parts an opening has 
been effected by the superior strength of the foreigner, 
backed up by gunboats or cannon. Of such a character are 
the concessions as regards missionaries and trade, which fall 
more properly under the heading of China's external than 
of her internal relations, and, as such, have been dealt with 
in the previous chapter. In what respects, however, may 
she be said to have yielded, or to be even now abatmg her 
stubborn opposition, in deference to no exterior compulsion. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 313 

but of her own free will ? The answer^ whether we look at 
the introduction of the electric telegraph and railways, at 
the adoption of foreign mechanical appliances in arsenals, 
dockyards, and workshops, at the institution of a native 
press, at the development of internal resources, or at the 
encouragement of domestic enterprise — the familiar first 
lessons of the West to the East — will teach us that it is 
with no lighthearted or spontaneous step, but from the 
keenest instincts of self-preservation alone, that China has 
descended from her pinnacle of supercilious self-sufficiency, 
and has consented to graduate in Western academies. One 
might think that in the contemplation of the magnificent 
wharves and streets and buildings of Shanghai, which 
worthily claims to be the Calcutta of the Far East ; of the 
spacious and orderly foreign settlement of Tientsin, con- 
trasted with the filth of the native city adjoining ; or of 
the crowded dockyards and shipping of Hongkong — the 
Chinese would have found at once a reproach to their own 
backwardness and a stimulus to competition. It is doubtful 
whether any such impression has ever been produced upon 
the Celestial mind. What suits the foreigner's taste is not 
necessarily required by his. If the foreigner prefers to be 
comfortable, he is content to be squalid. If space and 
grandeur are essential to the one, they have for centuries 
been dispensed with, and are, therefore, not necessary to 
the other. Were it not that experience has shown beyond 
possibility of cavil that, in the struggle with the foreigner 
to which the march of events has committed her, China is 
herself handicapped by the absence of those appliances 
which have rendered her antagonists so formidable, she 
would not have made the smallest concession to a pressure 
which she still despises, even while yielding to it. In a 
word, her surrender is the offspring, not of admiration, 



314 CHINA 

but of fear. It is based upon expediency^ not upon con- 
viction. 

No more striking illustration of this thesis can be furnished 
than the enterprise which Avill seem to the superficial ob- 
server the evidence of its very opposite^ viz. the 

.^^' ^^'^y^ introduction of railways into China. When I first 
in China. •' 

visited the Chinese Empire in 1887, there was not 
a mile of railroad in the country. The little abortive railway 
from Woosung to Shanghai, which had been constructed in 
] 876 by English merchants, and had been compulsorily 
acquired and torn up by the provincial authorities in 1877, 
was only a memory and a warning. Now, however, the 
stranger can travel in an English-built carriage upon English 
steel rails from the station of Tongku, near the Taku forts 
at the mouth of the Peiho River, over the 27 miles that 
separate him from Tientsin ; while from Tongku the main 
line is already prolonged for 67 miles to the Tungshan and 
Kaiping coalfields, and thence as far as Shan-hai-kuan, at 
the seaward terminus of the Great Wall, in the direction of 
Manchuria beyond. 

The reason of these several extensions has been as follows : 
Of the first (which was begun in 1887), the alarm produced 
^ , by the French war in 1884; of the second, the 

rian necessity, in the event of a future campaign, of 

possessing native coalfields, instead of being de- 
pendent upon foreign supply — as well as the interests of 
a speculation in which the Viceroy Li Hung Chang is per- 
sonally concerned ; of the third, the fear of Russian aggression 
on the north; — self-interest or apprehension having been, 
therefore, in each case the motive power. In other words, 
the introduction of these railways has been a compulsory 
operation, not undertaken of free will or inclination, but forced 
from the outside. At one period the works were stopped by 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 315 

the resurgence of old-fashioned and superstitious ideas,^ and 
by the weight of Palace intrigue. But the influence of Li 
Hung Chang has triumphed; and the line, though nominally 
mercantile in its inception, has now become in reality a 
strategical railway, which before the war was being steadily 
pushed forward in the direction of Kirin. Its total length 
will then be just short of 650 miles. The first Q4< miles 
were constructed by a company, the China Railway Company ; 
the remainder is a State i-ailway. But inasmuch as both 
undertakings are controlled by the Viceroy, and as the 
former is in no sense a commercial speculation, the share- 
holders being all officials, and no accounts being published, 
the entire project may be considered as one scheme. At 
the rate of advance before the war, 40 or 50 miles were being 
laid yearly, a sum of £400,000 being allocated for the purpose. 
This left a gap of several years before Kirin was expected 
to be reached ; but it was calculated that, owing to the 
paucity of physical obstacles, and the ability of the Chinese 
navvies in throwing up earthworks, the whole line could, at 
a pinch, be completed in two years. In 1894, however, 
progress was for a while suspended, in order that the funds 
so released might be devoted to the celebrations of the 
sixtieth birthday of the Empress-Dowager — a proceeding 
profoundly Chinese. Before these could take place the war- 
cloud burst upon China ; and railroad-construction went the 
way of every other Chinese undertaking. Had the line 
been pushed forward without interruption before the out- 
break of hostilities, it is conceivable that Port Arthur might 

1 "When it was announced that a branch line was to be constructed from 
Moukden to Newchwang, the Tartar General of the former place, who did 
not want it at all, consulted the geomancers, who reported that the vertebrre of 
the dragon encircling the holy city of Moukden would infallibly be sundered 
by driving the long nails of the railway sleepers into them. Accordingly, he 
advocated the removal of the line from Moukden. The sj^inal cord of the 
dragon was ultimately secured by shifting the rails a few hundred yards. 



316 CHINA 

have been saved. Branch lines were contemplated in the 
original scheme from Moukden to the Treaty Port of New- 
chwangj a distance of 110 miles; and from Newchwang to 
the naval dockyard of Port Arthur, both strategical in design. 
The entire scheme, in fact, was China's reply to the Trans- 
Siberian Railway of Russia to Vladivostok — the prodigious 
effect of which upon the future of Asia, at present but 
scantily realised in this country, was clearly appreciated by 
a few Chinese statesmen — and was a warning to the Tsar 
that China does not mean to let Manchuria and the Sungari 
River slijp from her grasp quite as easily as she did the Amur 
and Ussuri channels, and the provinces upon their northern 
and eastern banks. The circumstances have been changed 
by the clever and resolute diplomacy of Russia since the 
war ; and few persons would be surprised if the price that 
China is now called upon to pay included some concession 
affecting the alignment or completion of that very Siberian 
railway, which will ultimately seal her doom. 

It was originally contemplated to run a line from Tientsin 
to Tungchow, the river port thirteen miles distant from 

Peking — a project which would have been of 
Peki ° gi'eat service both to the Chinese inhabitants of 

the capital, who find the prices of the necessaries 
of life swollen to exorbitant figures by the difficulty of com- 
munications in winter, and to the Europeans who, by the 
same conditions, are cut off for months every year from the 
outer world. But Chinese conservatism could not stomach 
any such affront to the footstool of Royalty, while the argu- 
ment that a railroad to the capital would only avail to 
transport an invader all the more quickly is one that pos- 
sessed peculiar fascination for Celestial ears. Accordingly, 
the direct connection of Peking with the coast will probably 
be postponed for some time longer, although I entertain no 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 317 

doubt that it will ultimately be accomplished. Many more 
foreigners will then visit the Chinese capital, hotels will 
spring up, and the curio-dealers will rejoice. In practice 
the familiar objection to railways in China that they will 
offend the fe7!gshui, or Spirit Powers, and disturb the repose 
of the dead, is found to be less serious than the contention, 
which there is no school of political economy in China to 
controvert, that the displacement of labour caused thereby 
will throw so many hundreds or thousands of coolies or 
junkmen or cartmen out of employment. This is a line of 
reasoning that has already been successfully employed for 
years to resist the opening of the Upper Yangtse to steam 
navigation, and that will be repeated ad nauseam against 
every proposal for railway extension for many yeai's to 
come. 

There are of course statesmen in China who, like Li 
Hung Chang, are superior to the fallacies or the supersti- 
tions of their countrymen. It will be remem- 
bered that a few years ago the Emperor, or Trunk 
rather the Empress - Dowager, who was still 
Regent, issued an interrogation to the principal provincial 
Governors and Governors-General, inviting their counsel 
upon the subject of railway extension in the Empire. Their 
replies, which were published, contained several expressions 
of very sensible opinion. One Governor recommended not 
merely the Manchurian Railway, but a second line in a 
north-westerly direction through Shansi and Kansu to Hi, 
and a third as far as remote Kashgar, assigning these 
reasons : — 

'We shall thereby be able to send troops, money, etc., anywhei'e 
in our Empire within ten days : and morover, we shall be able to 
found prosperous colonies in those outlying regions of people who 
in China proper are only a starving jjroletariat, and a source ot 



318 CHINA 

trouble to the Government, but who, once transplanted thither, 
will be able to find a fruitful field for their now unemployed labour, 
and will turn the desert into a garden.' 

But the most stalwart of these advocates was the celebrated 
Chang Chih Tung, Viceroy of the Two Kuangs,^ who pressed 
for the construction of a great Trunk Railway connecting 
Pekmg with Hankow, to be commenced simultaneously 
at both ends. Not the most conservative of Chinamen 
could deny that such a line at least was sufficiently removed 
from the coast to be of little assistance to an invader. In 
1889 appeared an Imperial Proclamation authorising the 
execution of this only half-considered scheme, and Chang 
Chih Tung was sent as Viceroy to Hankow to carry it out. 
Subsequent reflection appears to have convinced him that 
it must not be undertaken except with Chinese capital, and 
with steel rails manufactured in Chinese furnaces from 
Chinese metal — a decision which looks very much like a 
postponement to the Greek Kalends. Until the Chinese 
have realised that they are incapable of constructing a great 
line except by foreign assistance, and (unless they are pre- 
pared to pledge the Imperial Exchequer to the undertaking) 
to some extent by foreign capital, it is safe to predict that 
the great Hankow-Peking egg will never be hatched at all. 

In the meantime the Viceroy, until his recent promotion 
to Nanking, continued energetically to pursue the first part 

^^ , of his curtailed scheme by erecting iron and steel 

Hankow •' ° 

Line and works and a great rolling-mill (in addition to 
already existing cotton, brick, and tile factories 
in the neighbourhood) at Hanyang, near Hankow, while 
he could flatter himself that he had a railway all his own in 
the shape of a short line of the standard gauge, seventeen 

1 In the course of the war with Japan, Chang Chih Tung was made Vice- 
roy of the Hu Provinces, and afterwards of Nanking. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 319 

miles long, which he had constructed from Shih-hin-yao on the 
banks of the Yangtse, seventy miles below Hankow, to the 
iron mines of Tienshan-pu, whence the ore was to be derived. 
Branch lines were also contemplated to the neighbouring 
collieries of Wang-san-shih and Ma-an-shan. In Wuchang 
a laboratory was established in 1891 for the analysis of the 
various local minerals. Additional ironworks are now being 
constructed by the indefatigable Viceroy at his new seat of 
Government, to assist those of Hanyang in carrying out his 
pet scheme and supplying material for the Great Trunk 
Railway of the future. Simultaneously, but even more 
leisurely, the second part of the scheme is being advanced 
by the despatch of a number of Chinese to Europe, to 
acquire the necessary mechanical and engineering experi- 
ence. These are the resorts, cumbersome, dilatory, and 
infinitely costly, to which China is impelled by an imperish- 
able confidence in herself and a corresponding dislike of 
external assistance. 

The only other railway in the Chinese dominions in 1892 
was a line in the north of the island of Formosa, originally 
commenced with the torn-up Woosung rails, by 
one of the most enterpi-ising of Chinese states- °™°s^ 
men, Liu Ming Chuan, who, having gained great 
credit for his skilful defence of Kelung against the French 
fleet, under Admiral Courbet, in 1884, was reported in 1894, 
in consequence of scares upon the Pamirs, to be about to 
proceed as military commander to Chinese Turkestan. The 
idea of the Formosa Railway was to connect the port of 
Kelung, on the north-east coast of the island, with that of 
Tainan on the west. About fifty miles of this railroad have 
been laid by the Chinese ; and it now remains for the 
victors in the recent war to enter into the fruition of their 
predecessors' labours. 



320 CHINA 

Since the conclusion of peace, railways have been, so to 

speak, ' in the air ' ; and all manner of schemes have been 

reported as having been sanctioned by the Em- 

f ^ peror and as being on the brink of execution. Of 

schemes. ^ ° 

these the line from Tientsin to Peking is said to 

be the first that will be undertaken. Railroad extension is 

indeed the single respect in which China seems at all likely to 

show that the rhinoceros-hide of her complacency has been 

so much as pricked by the goad of recent calamity. 

This short sketch of the inception of railroad enterprise 

in China will, however, have proved that whilst the advice of 

^ , a prominent statesman here, or the influence of 

Other ^ 

communi- an energetic governor there, or the momentary 
warning of military disaster, may result in the 
commencement of isolated undertakings, which are recom- 
mended by particular exigencies of policy or speculation, 
the Chinese Government is far from having realised the 
overwhelming importance, not merely to the economic and 
industrial development, but to the continued national 
existence of the Empire, of a wide-reaching and promptly 
executed system of i-ailways. The prediction may safely 
be hazarded that, without railroads, Manchuria, Chinese 
Turkestan, and Western Mongolia, as well as other out- 
lying parts of the Empire, cannot be permanently held. 
There is not the slightest good in manufacturing Krupp, 
and Hotchkiss, and (jatling, and Winchester, and Martini- 
Henry implements of war by the thousand, if there exist 
no means of conveying the troops who are to use them to 
the scene of action. In railroads and telegraphs (the latter 
were stoutly resisted at the start by the provincial governors 
because of the restraints which would thereby be placed 
upon their independence) lies the sole hope that China still 
possesses of retaining her territorial integrity. And yet, so 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 321 

perversely ignorant has the Government always been of this 
elementary axiom, that communications of any kind have 
been treated by it with undeviating neglect. The military 
reliefs have been compelled to trudge to their stations over 
thousands of miles of execrable track. Even the few military 
roads that have been constructed near the coast have been 
allowed to fall out of repair. Simultaneously, with the 
most magnificent rivers in Asia running through her terri- 
tories, and inviting cheap and rapid communication with the 
populous cities of the interior, it is only, so to speak, at the 
bayonet's point that assent can be gained to the extension 
of river navigation by steam ; and whole populations must 
be starved in order that small commimities of boatmen or 
raftmen may live. 

Similar reflections are suggested by an examination of the 
military equipment and resources of China, which, until the 
pitiless exposure of the war, formed the subject of 

much premature congratulation. It is true that, I ' ^^^ 

r is ' reiorm. 

particularly since the French war in 1884-85, 
which, in spite of the comparative failure of the French, 
and the pretensions to victory that have since been ad- 
vanced by the Chinese, yet taught the latter a great 
many well-needed lessons, millions have been spent in 
providing the Empire with the inechanical appliances that 
shall enable it successfully to resist the foreigner. At 
Kirin, Tientsin, Shanghai, Nanking, Foochow, and Canton, 
are factories or arsenals, capable of turning out gunpowder, 
cartridges, repeating rifles, field and mountain artillery, 
projectiles, and machine guns of the most approved and 
recent pattern. The majority, if not all of these, were 
established in the first place, and for a long time supervised, 
by foreigners. It is true also that a military school for 
oflicers has been founded at Peking, and schools of gunnery, 

X 



322 CHINA 

musketry, and engineering, under the patronage of Li Hung 
Chang, at Tientsin, Simultaneously, a large number of 
foreign officers or instructors, principally Germans, have been 
engaged to instruct the Chinese in the manufacture or use 
of these scientific appliances. Thus equipped, the Chinese 
Army is on paper a force not merely numerically strong, but 
mechanically powerful. A more minute and searching 
scrutiny, however, is needed before we can accept these 
exterior symptoms as irrefutable evidence of a reformed 
military system. Let me briefly examine both the con- 
stitution of the Army as a whole, and the opinions that 
have been entertained of its efficiency by competent 
observers.^ 

The military organisation of China is little less antique 
and no less rigid than its civil counterpart. It has not 

varied since the Manchu invasion 250 years ago. 
The Man- in. , 

chu and The descendants of the conquerors, with a certain 

a lona admixture of Mongolians and Chinese, still form 
Armies. ® ' 

the Array of the Eight Banners,^ from which the 
garrisons of Peking and other great provincial capitals are 
drawn ; constituting a sort of hereditary profession or caste 
maintained at the expense of the Crown, and, like the 
Roman legionaries in the outlying provinces of the Empire, 
owning military lands. The nominal strength of the Eight 
Banners is variously returned as from 230,000 to 330,000 
men; but of these considerably less than 100,000, perhaps 
not 80,000, are in any sense of the term upon a war footing. 

1 I am indebted for some portions of the following information to the 
courtesy of Baron Speck von Sternburg, Secretary to the German Legation 
at Peking, who has made a close personal study of the military resources of 
China. 

2 Strictly speaking, the Eight Banners are subdivided, ethnologically, into 
three groups of eight corps each — Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, the two 
latter being descendants of the troops which took part in or assisted the 
Manchu invasion. Intermarriage is compulsory among the twenty-four 
Banner Corps, 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 323 

The best of them, amounting to an avmy corps 37,000 
strong, are stationed in Manchuria itself, where, face to face 
with the dreaded enemy, Russia, large garrisons are main- 
tained at Moukden, Kirin, and along the Ussuri. The 
Imperial Guard in Peking, which is drawn from the Banner 
Army, consists of eight regiments, or 4000 to 6000 men. 
Side by side with them is the Ying Ping, or national Army, 
called in contradistinction the Green Flags, or Five Camps 
(five being the unit of subdivision), and constituting a terri- 
torial army, frequently designated as ' Braves.' Of this 
army there are eighteen corps, one for each province of the 
Empire, under the orders of the local Governor or Governor- 
General. Their nominal strength is given by different 
authorities as between 540,000 and 660,000 men/ of whom 
from 170,000 to 250,000 are variously reported to be avail- 
able for war. The National Army is in fact better described 
as a militia, about one-third of whom are usually called out, 
and the whole of whom are never organised, and are pro- 
bably incapable of being organised, for war. To this force 
must be added the mercenary troops, raised in emergencies, 
and dating from the time of the Taiping Rebellion; and 
some irregulars, consisting of Mongolian and other cavalry, 
nominally 200,000 in number, in reality less than 20,000, 
and of no military value. The only serious or formidable 
contingent of the National Army is the Tientsin army corps, 
called Lien Chun, or drilled troops, which was first started 
with European officers after the war of I860, and acquired 
its cohesion in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, 
since which it has been maintained in a state of comparative 
efficiency by the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, its organisation 
and instruction being based on the Prussian model. Nomi- 
nally this division is 100,000 strong, but its mobilised 
1 The Chinese Army List gives 651,667 men and 7157 officers. 



324 CHINA 

strength is not more than 35,000^ or a full army corps, which 
is employed to garrison the Taku and Peitang Forts, the 
city of Tientsin, and Port Arthur. It is sometimes called 
the Black Flag Army, and is equipped with modern fire- 
arms, breech-loading Krupp guns, and Snider, Hotchkiss, 
Remington, and Mauser rifles. The pay is also superior to 
that of the Banner Army ; for whereas in the latter a 
cavalry soldier receives only 10s. a month and forage allow- 
ance, and the foot soldier 7s. a month and rations, the 
Tientsin private receives 15s. a month. If any real business 
requires to be done in the metropolitan province or neigh- 
bourhood, it is to the Tientsin contingent that recourse is 
made. This is the total land army of China — on a peace 
footing not more than 300,000, on a war footing about 
1,000,000 men — that is called upon to garrison and defend 
an Empire whose area is one-third o'f the whole of Asia and 
half as large again as Europe, and whose population is half 
of the total of Asia and equivalent to the whole of Europe. 

So much for the men, numerically considered. It is 
when we approach the question of their discipline, training, 
and personnel, still more when we examine their 
officers and leading, that the true value of 
the Chinese army emerges. The Chinaman has many 
excellent qualities as a soldier, viz. a splendid physique, 
natural docility and sobriety, considerable intelligence, and 
great powers of endurance. The sum total of these acquire- 
ments does not, however, necessarily make a first-rate 
fighting-machine. Indiiference to death is by no means 
identical with real bravery ; animal ferocity is a very diffe- 
rent thing from moral courage. Of discipline in the highest 
sense the Chinese have none ; and no arms in the world, 
shuffled out from the arsenal upon the declaration of war, 
like cards from a pack, and placed in untrained hands, can 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 325 

make them follow leaders who are nincompoops, or resist an 
enemy whose tactics, except when it comes to getting 
behind a mud rampart themselves (and not always then, as 
was shown by the experience of Asan [or Yashan] and Ping- 
yang in Septenaber 1894), they do not understand. They 
have no idea of marching or skirmishing, or of bayonet or 
musketry practice. The only recruiting test is the lifting to 
the full stretch of the arms above the head of an iron bar, 
from the ends of which are hung two stones, weighing 9^ 
stone the pair. Their drill is a sort of gymnastic perform- 
ance, and their ordinary weapons are tufted lances, spears, 
battle-axes, tridents, and bows and arrows, with an ample 
accompaniment of banners and gongs. Rifles of obsolete 
pattern, bought second-hand or third-hand in Europe, are 
dealt out to those who are on active service. These and 
their ammunition are mostly worthless from age. The 
weapon of the majority is, however, an ancient matchlock, 
of which the most familiar pattern is the Jingal, which re- 
quires two men to fire it. On almost any day in Peking the 
Manchu gai-rison may be seen engaged in archery practice 
under the walls, or shooting with the same weapon, while at 
full gallop, at a straw doll stuck up in a ditch. In war there 
is no unity, either of administration or armament. There is 
no organised transport service or commissariat column. A 
medical or ambulance service is also unknown. In the fight- 
ing against the French in Tongking the men of the same 
regiment had different rifles, and an even larger confusion of 
cartridges. To a Chinaman all cartridges are alike; and 
what with those that were too large and those that were too 
small, and those that jammed and could not be extracted, it 
may be judged what amount of success attended the firing. 
In the recent war with Japan it was the provision of faulty, " 
or obsolete, or worthless ammvmition, and in some cases the 



326 CHINA 

total lack of it altogether, that decided the fate of the 
majority of the combats, almost before they had begun. 

All these drawbacks or delinquencies, however, shrink 
into nothingness when compared with the crowning handi- 
cap of the native officer. In many parts of Asia 

^ ^^^ I have had occasion to observe and to comment 

orhcers. 

upon the strange theory of the science of war 
(confined apparently to the East), which regard the personnel 
of an army as wholly independent of its leading. In China 
there is a special reason for this phenomenon. There, 
where all distinction is identified with familiarity with the 
classics, and depends upon success in a competitive exam- 
ination, the military profession, which requires no such 
training, is looked upon with contempt, and attracts only 
inferior men. In the bulk of the army (I except the 
Tientsin army corps) an officer still only requires to qualify 
by passing a standard in archery, in fencing with swords, 
and in certain gymnastic exercises. To the same deeply 
embedded fallacy must be attributed the collateral opinion 
that a civilian must be much better fitted to command a 
battalion than a military man, because he is supposed in 
the course of his studies to have read something of the art 
of war. And when we examine what this art, in its literary 
presentation, is, we find that the standard military works 
in China are some 3000 years old ; and that the authority 
in highest repute, Sun-tse by name, solemnly recommends 
such manoeuvres as these : ' Spread in the camp of the 
enemy voluptuous musical airs, so as to soften his heart' — 
a dictum which might have commended itself to Plato, 
but would hardly satisfy Von Moltke. The British army 
could not be worse, nay, it would be far better led, were 
the Commander-in-Chief compelled to be a Senior Wrangler, 
and the Generals of division drawn from Senior Classics. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 327 

It cannot be considered surprising that the Chinese officers, 
so recruited and thus taught, destitute of the slenderest 
elements, either of military knowledge or scientific training, 
should earn the contempt of their followers. Their posts 
are usually acquired either by favouritism or purchase. 
When it is added that they are also, as a rule, both corrupt 
and cowardly ; that they stint the men's rations and pilfer 
their pay ; and that when an engagement takes place they 
commonly misdirect it from a sedan-chair in the rear, we 
have the best of reasons for expecting uniform and 
systematic disaster. The General officer is seldom (there 
have, of course, been remarkable exceptions) any better 
than his subordinate ; in warfare there is no single moving 
spirit or plan of campaign ; and on the field of battle each 
commander acts with irresponsible light-heartedness for 
himself, and yearns for the inglorious security of the rear. 

It may, however, be thought that in the occasional 
employment of European officers some sort of guarantee 
is provided against the universal prevalence of 
this huge scandal. It is with no such intention Qj^^g^g^" 
that China hires the brain or the experience of 
the foreigner. She is ready enough to enlist and to pay 
for them, perhaps at a high rate, in the initial stages of a 
policy of military or naval reconstruction ; but she is too 
jealous to give him the power or the chance to which he 
is entitled ; and, like a sucked orange, she throws him 
away as soon as she has drained him dry. In such a 
manner has she treated both the English officer, Captain 
Lang, who provided her with the nucleus of a powerful 
reorganised fleet, and the German officer, Captain von 
Hanneken, who has for years been engaged in fortifying 
her coasts and reconstituting her arsenals. She kowtows to 
the foreigner as long as she has something to gain from 



328 CHINA 

him ; but her inordinate conceit presently reasserts itself, 

and a Chinaman is appointed to continue, one might rather 

say to take to pieces, the laborious efforts of his predecessor. 

In the recent war, while the Chinese Government looked 

askance upon any European assistance in the opening 

stages, a point was soon reached at which they were 

willing to pay exorbitant sums for any such aid, and to 

appoint to important posts almost any foreigner who could 

train a gun, or help to handle a ship. 

To these details must be added the fact that the annual 

military expenditure, or perhaps I should rather 
Cost. 

say waste, of China, is estimated at between 

£15,000,000 and .£20,000,000. 

But it may be said, is it not the case that on several 

occasions during the last thirty years, e.g. in the suppression 

of the Mohammedan revolt in Yunnan, in the 

^^^ recovery of Kashgar, and in the Franco-Chinese 

successes. •> o ' 

war, China showed a military capacity Avliich 
would render her anywhere a formidable adversary.^ Such, 
not unnaturally, is her own conclusion. But there are 
qualifying considerations that must be borne in mind. The 
Mussulman uprising, it is true, was quelled, but this was 
mainly due to the deplorable tactics of the insurgents. 
Eastern Turkestan was won back ; but only because, after 
Yakub Beg had been got rid of by treachery and poison, 
the life and soul of the rebellion were extinct. In the 
French war, which is claimed as a victory by both parties, 
the Chinese pride themselves greatly on having successfully 
resisted the ridiculous French demands for an indemnity of 
£10,000,000, on having repulsed the attack on Formosa, 
and on having made peace after Langson, i.e. in the hour 
of temporary triumph. Every one knows, however, that 
had China been able to continue the struggle, she would 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 329 

have done so ; and that she eagerly seized the opportunity 
for coming to terms. The French committed every con- 
ceivable blunder. Instead of striking at Peking, which is 
the only way to bring the Chinese Government quickly to 
its knees (a fact which was very early apprehended by 
Japan), they conducted a foolish campaign in Tongking, 
under a deadly climate, with a vastly inferior force, and in 
a country utterly unsuited to European warfare, namely, 
rice-fields intersected with canals, or hills covered with 
dense covert. The campaign afforded little or no criterion 
of the newly equipped and foreign-drilled armaments of 
China ; for these can hardly be said to have been engaged. 
Had the Chinese Army really been worth what is claimed 
for it, the French would scarcely now be comfortably 
installed in the Red River delta. 

Let me fortify my opinion, however — which must in 
itself be valueless — of the Chinese army, by citing the 
verdict of three European officers, probably better r- _ ^ 1 
qualified fi'om their peculiar experience to judge Gordon's 
than any three other men during the last quarter 
of a century. I do not know that even their opinion is 
necessary at this date, ratified as it has been by the 
overwheliTiing testimony of the war with Japan. But 
inasmuch as these pages were originally written before 
that war had broken out, it may not be inopportune to 
reproduce the various grounds upon which I had been led 
to the conclusion that in any conflict with a considerable 
Power, China must inevitably suffer defeat. When war 
was on the eve of breaking out between Russia and China 
in 1880, over the affair of Kulja, the late General Gordon 
was invited to Peking to give his advice to the Imperial 
Government. In a characteristic and outspoken memo- 
randum to his old fellow-officer, the Viceroy Li, he exposed 



330 CHINA 

the utter rottenness of the Chinese military organisation, 
and strongly advised them to give up playing the game of 
scientific warfare with foreigners, in which they were sure 
to be beaten, and to adhere to the traditional irregular 
warfare for which their aptitudes especially fitted them. 
Skirmishes as against battles, breech-loading rifles as against 
big guns, this was his motto of advice.^ 

The late General Prjevalski, the famous Russian explorer, 
who spent many years of his life on the confines of the 

Chinese Empire, and made a profound study of 
enera ^^^ military resources, thus summed up, only six 

years ago, a long and interesting essay upon the 
Celestial Army : — 

' China, under its present conditions, and for many a long day, 
cannot possibly hope to create an army at all similar to those of 
European States. She lacks both the material and the spirit. Let 
Europeans supply the Chinese with as many arms as they please, 
let them strive to train the Chinese soldiers, let them even supply 
leaders — and the Chinese army will nevertheless never be more 
than an artificially created, mechanically united, unstable organism. 
Subject it but once to the serious trial of war, and speedy dis- 
solution will overtake it.' 

Thirdly, I quote the opinion of Colonel Mark Bell, V.C, 
one of the greatest, though the most modest, of living 

English travellers, who, after covering the pro- 
Bell digious journey, 3500 miles in length, from Peking 

to Kashgar, thus summed up his impressions of 
the Chinese army : — 

' A study of ("hina's interests, position, and material strength, 
all along her Russian border, whether in Kashgaria, or Mongolia, 
or Manchuria, has led me to conclude that she has no military 
strength, and must be valueless to us as a military ally during the 
next several decades.' 

1 This Memorandum is reprodviced in A. G. Hake's Stori/ of Chinese 
Gordon, p. 379. London, 1884. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 331 

Statistics differed as to the exact strength of the Chinese 
Navy before the war^ and were hardly required afterwards in 
consequence of its almost complete obliteration ; 
but its history and equipment afford an almost Chinese 
precise parallel to those of the Army, Just as the ^^^' 
disasters of the war of I860 heralded the summons of 
European officers to Peking, and a complete scheme of 
military reorganisation, so does the modern Chinese Navy 
date from the same epoch and events. In 1862, Mr. H. N. 
Lay, who had been appointed Inspector of the Imperial 
Customs at Shanghai before the war, was entrusted with the 
commission to purchase a fleet of small gunboats in England. 
Nominally these vessels were to be employed for the pro- 
tection of the Treaty Ports and the suppression of piracy. 
They were really intended for use against the rebels who 
had not yet been subdued. Seven gunboats and one store- 
ship were bought in England and taken out. But upon their 
arrival a dispute arose between Mr. Lay and Captain Sherard 
Osborn (who had been offered the command) on the one 
hand, and the Chinese authorities on the other, as to the ap- 
pointment of a Chinese colleague, and as to the source 
whether provincial or Imperial, from which orders were to 
be received. So long was the squabble protracted that the 
ships were never used at all, and were finally sent back to 
Bombay, where they were sold at a loss of half a million 
sterling, Mr. Lay having in the meantime left the Chinese 
service. This unfortunate misunderstanding greatly retarded 
the naval advance of China, and was thus alluded to, twenty- 
five years later, by the Marquis Tseng : — 

' Twice since 18C0 China has had to lament this as a national 
misfortune, for twice since then she has had to submit to occupations 
of her territory, which the development of that fleet would have 
rendered difficult, if not impossible.' 



332 CHINA 

Since those days, however, and more particularly since the 
war with France, China has bestirred herself in the matter of 
naval equipment. The first result of the French war was 
the addition, in 1885, of a Ministry for the Navy, or Board 
of Admiralty, to the seven existing administrative depart- 
ments. At Foochow, Port Li, Tientsin, Wei Hai Wei, 
Canton, Shanghai, and Port Arthur (Lu Shun Kou),^ have 
been established powerful arsenals or dockyards, the last- 
named place being the naval base of defence for Peking. 
Four naval colleges for the education of cadets have been 
started at Wei Hai Wei, Tientsin, Whampoa, and Nanking. 
There is a torpedo-school under a German at Canton. Sir 
W. Armstrong at Elswick has built for them fast cruisers ; 
Herr Krupp at Essen has turned out the best ironclads. The 
total Chinese fleet, divided into four squadrons, the Pei-yang, 
or north coast squadron, and the fleets of Foochow, Shanghai 
(called the Nanyang squadron), and Canton, comprised at the 
outbreak of hostilities about 65 vessels of wai', mostly built 
abroad^ and including 4 ironclads, l6 cruisers, and 17 gun- 
boats, as well as over 30 torpedo-boats, and 6 floating 
batteries. The tonnage of the combined fleets was about 
65,000 tons, the armament 490 guns, and the complement 
of men 7000. The usual experiment of a European com- 
mander had been tried, with the usual result, expulsion. The 

^ The dockyard at Port Arthur, now the principal naval station of the 
Empire, was only commenced in 1887, the French, in virtue of a clause in 
their Treaty of 1885, having secured the contract. It was comi_)leted in 1890, 
and defended by heavily armed forts, with a garrison of 7000 men and 1.3 
torpedo boats. When the Japanese took it by storm in November 1894, the 
Chinese seem to have practically ignored the land defences, which should 
have been impregnable, and to have allowed themselves to be caught in a 
trap. After the war Port Arthur remained in the occupation of the Japanese, 
who proposed to retain it along with the Liao-tung Peninsula, on which it is 
situated. It formed, however, that jDortion of the phmder which they were 
compelled by the new Triple Alliance, France, Russia, and Gorm.anj', to 
disgorge. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 333 

fleet was officered and manned by Chinese, foreigners being 
retained only for instruction in gunnery, electricity, torpedo- 
practice, etc. No doubt this fleet, like the army, was, on 
paper, a fighting force of no mean capacity. But, as I wrote 
in my first edition, with an anticipation that, substituting 
only the word Japanese for European, was strictly prophetic, 
the question was, whether under native commanders it was 
not likely to prove a greater source of weakness than of 
strength, and by falling a prey to the first European force 
that seriously engaged it, to lend no inconsiderable increment 
of strength to the latter. A further element of weakness in 
the Chinese Navy is the total lack of administrative centrali- 
sation. The Navy is jiot properly an Imperial or even a 
National force. The four fleets are Provincial squadrons, 
raised, equipped, and maintained by the viceroys or gover- 
nors of the maritime provinces to which they are attached. 
Each acts independently in its own area, though they are 
mobilised for common evolutions every autumn. For 
instance, when in 1885 the French blockaded Formosa, they 
were not opposed by the combined Chinese fleet, but only 
by the Foochow squadron ,• and when this had been anni- 
hilated, by the Nanyang squadron, which took its place, no 
idea of concerted action being entertained. The same thing 
occurred in the recent war, where the Canton squadron 
never left the Canton River. There is, finally, in the Navy, 
as in the Army, a total want of a competent staff. 

Two reflections are suggested by this review of the military 
and naval reforms of modern China. The first is this. Un- 
awai-e that her main danger continues to lie upon 
her land frontiers, she thinks only of gunboats and and the real 
maritime defences, and spends millions in forti- "^"S^'- 
fying her coasts. Because England and France once landed 
their troops at Canton and Tientsin, she appeal's to think 



334 CHINA 

that no European enemy can ever attack her except in ships. 
Because the great Powers of Europe are represented in the 
Far East by naval flotillas, she must have an equivalent or 
superior flotilla, in order to simulate the idea of being a great 
maritime Power also. Meanwhile, on the one hand, no steps 
are taken to combat or excise the canker of official corruption 
that preys upon the vitals of both services. On the other 
hand, in full view of the bewitched prey, the toils are being 
spread, and from the Pamirs and Turkestan and the Trans- 
Amur ^ will flow into Kashgaria, Mongolia, Sungaria, and 
Manchuria the tide that will overwhelm her outlying pro- 
vinces, and may possibly not be arrested till it has attained 
the capital itself. Truly Quern Deus vult peirlere, prius 
dementat. 

Nevertheless, disrespectful to purely Chinese susceptibilities 
as these remarks may appear to have been, it must not be 

forgotten that in her vast empire China, however 
Themer- * . l' > 

cenaries of ill she may utilise it, possesses an inexhaustible 
urope. supply of the very finest raw material, so far as 
mere manhood is concerned, in the East ; and that what she 
is too blind or too obstinate to do for herself, others, with a 
superior foresight and strength, may insist upon doing for 
themselves. In other words, the Chinaman, who now fights 
for the Tartar just as he once fought for the Mongol, may 
one day be persuaded to fight for the Russian also. If the 
mandarin with spectacles on his nose and a cane in his hand 
cannot make a soldier of him, perhaps the European drill- 
sergeant will. Under good leadership he can fight suffi- 
ciently well, as was shown by Gordon's men. Valueless, 
therefore as, under existing conditions and management, we 

1 China has by Treaty an equal right to navigate the Amur with the 
Russians. But she has not placed a single gunboat on the river, though its 
right bank is still mainly Chinese. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 335 

may believe Chinese armaments to be, their potential value 
in the hands of another Power must not be lost sight of. It 
is conceivable that, so organised and directed, the Chinese 
Army and Navy may yet have a good deal to say in deter- 
mining the destinies of the Far East. 

Some writers have pointed to the tentative institution of 
a native Press in China as evidence of an internal fermenta- 
tion synonymous with reform. No such infer- 
ence can with justice be drawn. Outside of . ^, -^^^^ 
•> in China. 

Peking, where the Peking Gazette is a strictly 
edited Court journal and Government record and nothing 
more,^ the native journals are only or mostly to be found in 
the Treaty Ports. They are utterly unlike the native Press 
as it is rapidly becoming developed in Japan^ as it has 
already been developed in India. Free criticism, the 
formation or reflection of public opinion, an independent 
attitude — for these it is vain to search them, and hazai'dous 
in China would be the experiment. Politically^ their editors 

1 The Pelcing Gazette, which is the oldest newspaper in the world, its origin 
being attributed to the Sung dynasty, which ended in 1366 a.d., is not actually 
an official publication, like the London Gazette, but is a sort of ministerial or 
Government organ, the issvie of which is authorised by the Government, who 
also supply the greater part of the material. As such it is indirectly official 
and is absolutely authentic. Therein are contained all the ImjDerial acts, 
promotions, decrees and sentences, jietitions from provincial governors, pro- 
clamations of the censors, etc., without any editorial comments or leading- 
article. It is published daily in a manuscript and in a printed form, the 
former containing more matter, and is read and discussed with avidity by 
educated Chinese in every part of the Empire. In the provinces thousands 
of persons are employed in copying and abridging its contents for those who 
cannot afford to purchase the complete edition. It is printed by means of 
wooden movable types of willow or pojjlar wood. An average Gazette con- 
sists of ten to twelve leaves of thin brownish paper, measuring "2 by 3f 
inches, and enclosed between leaves, front and back, of bright yellow paper, 
to form a species of binding. The whole is roughly attached or stitched 
together. The inside leaves, being folded double in the usual Chinese 
fashion, give some twenty or more small pages of matter, each page being 
divided by red lines into seven columns. Each column contains fourteen 
charactei's from top to Ijottom, with a blank sjjace at the top. 



336 CHINA 

are sufficiently wise to tender a general support to the 
Government^ while the advantages of public encomium are 
sufficiently recognised by the local officials to induce in some 
cases a liberal payment for complimentary mention. Outside 
of this harmless diversion, they serve a useful purpose in 
acquiring telegraphic information, in circulating genei'al 
news, and in calling attention to visitations such as floods, 
etc., which might otherwise be ignored by the official eye.^ 
The total absence of party politics in China is itself a dis- 
couragement to the existence of an organised Press. On 
the other hand, the absence of such a Press is a welcome 
preventive to the dissemination of novel or revolutionary 
ideas, or to the spread of any propaganda at which the 
Government would look askance. 

China is a country of immense, probably of unequalled, 

natural resources. Her mineral wealth is believed to be 

greater than that of any other country in Asia. 

JNative Yler ports receive or diffuse a trade that employs 

enterprise. ^ sr j 

thousands of keels, and pours wealth into the 
pockets of half the nations of Europe. Her people are 
gifted with infinite perseverance, industry, and sobriety. 
Under these circumstances, one might expect to find native 
enterprise everywhere active and triumphant, and to see the 

1 The first native newsjiaper ajjpeared at Shanghai a little over thirty years 
ago, and was followed by two others at Tientsin and Canton, which were 
nominally started by Europeans, in order to escape Government inquisition, 
but were really owned and conducted by Chinese mandarins. There are now 
several Chinese newspajjers at Hongkong ; three at Canton, with a daily 
circulation of 5000 each ; and one has recently been started at Hankow. The 
best native organ is the Shanghai News, a daily paper (with a weekly illus- 
trated supplement), claiming a circulation of over 12,000. It usually contains 
a leading article, one or two political and social reviews, copies of official 
decrees and reports, police news, the telegrams of Eurofiean agencies, local 
intelligence, and advertisements. On the other hand, the Tientsin paper has 
proved a failure. The people like gossip and scandal, which are unsafe, and 
their own classics, which are unsuited for publication ; but in general news 
they take little interest. 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 337 

resources of the country profitably exploited by her own 
citizens. The very reverse is the spectacle before us. Of 
the many well-stocked mines^ oiily the coal-mines near 
Tientsin are successfully worked by a native company 
(under foreign management). Among the hundreds of 
merchant steamers cai*rying loaded bottoms from port to 
port, only thirty (and those officered and engineered by 
foreigners) fly the flag of a native company worth m.en- 
tioning, that of the China Merchants. And in both these 
cases the exception is merely due to the fact that official 
patronage is concerned in promoting the venture, and that 
the money of eminent mandarins is at stake. The Viceroy 
Li Hung Chang is reported to be behind the Kaiping Coal 
Mining Company. He it was who secured for the China 
merchants an Imperial subsidy and an assured revenue in 
the freight of the tribute rice. Quite lately a fresh bounty 
was given to them in the shape of a remission of import 
duties to native merchants shipping by their vessels, and 
of customs examination to native officials travelling in them ; 
but the discovery being made that these exemptions con- 
stituted a breach of Article iii. of the Commercial Treaty 
concluded between China and the United States in 1880, 
they were rescinded as the result of a protest from the 
British Minister. Yet in the cases of both these companies 
I have heard that the profits are not what they might be, 
and that shareholders complain of scant accounts and of 
infrequent and arbitrary dividends. In fact, as a commercial 
speculation, the China Merchants' Company is said to be a 
failure.^ What, then, is the secret of this paralysis that 
would seem to have ovei'come the energies of China just 

^ It ia very different with the China merchants of Hongkong, who, free to 
invest and develop their cajiital without the peril of Government interference 
or squeeze, run large ships to Manila and Batavia, to Saigon, Singa^jore, and 
Bangkok. 



338 CHINA 

at the very moment and in the very direction where they 

might be employed to sueli obvious advantage ? 

The answer Hes in tlie immemorial curse of Oriental 

countries, the trail of the serpent that is found everywhere 

^, from Stamboul to Peking — the vicious incubus of 

The curse ° 

of official- officialism, paramount, selfish, domineering, and 
corrupt. Distrust of private enterprise is rooted 
in the mind trained up to believe that the Government is 
eveiything and the individual nothing. The bough may 
rot and its fruit may never be garnered sooner than that the 
spoil should fall into any but official hands. So it has always 
been, and so it must continue to be. Were all Viceroys far- 
sighted and all mandarins liberal-minded, there would be 
less cause for reproach. But a system that has prevailed 
for twenty centuries does not easily relax the rigour of 
its bonds or admit of converts from its own ranks ; and 
those who have been bred and nurtured in a satisfied 
twilight do not relish the sensation of a sudden intro- 
duction to the noontide blaze. Let me give an illustration 
of the manner in which this system affects the development 
of the national resources. Near to Kelung in Formosa are 
some coal-mines. They were opened in the first place 
and worked by private individuals. Then the Provincial 
Government marched in, shut up all the private mines, 
and thus procured for itself a monopoly, which it pro- 
ceeded to develop by sending for European plant and 
European engineers. The next step was to appoint a 
Chinese superintendent as colleague to the foreign en- 
gineer; with the normal result of (1) friction, (2) dismissal 
of the foreigner, (3) resumption of the mine by the natives, 
(4) complete collapse and closure of the pits. Later on, 
a foreign financial syndicate offered to take over the 
mines on favourable terms. Taught by adversity, the 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 339 

Provincial Government gladly accepted ; but this time 

the Centi'al Government refused. So the mines lay idle 

until the opportunity of ever developing them in Chinese 

hands has now itself disappeared ; and this is the way in 

which things are done in China. 

In reality, therefore, the institution of which China is 

most proud, viz. a lettered bureaucracy^ is the source of 

her greatest weakness. Educated upon a system 

which has not varied for ages, stuffed with sense- -. ^ f'^^' 

° ' dannate. 

less and impracticable precepts, discharging the 
ceremonial duties of his office with a mechanical and servile 
accuracy, the victim of incredible superstitions and sorceries, 
but arrogant with a pride beyond human conception, 
furnished with an insufficient salary, and therefore com- 
pelled to peculate and plunder, the Chinese mandarin is 
China's worst enemy. All private enterprise is killed by 
official strangulation, all public spirit is extinguished by 
official greed. Nor, as it is the ambition and is within the 
scope of everybody, whatever his class, to become an official 
himself, is there any order to which we can look for success- 
ful protest. The entire governing class, itself recruited from 
the mass of the people, is interested in the preservation o£ 
the status quo. The forces ordinarily enlisted on the side 
of change, those of the literati or student class, are more 
reactionary in China than any other, seeing that, unlike 
Russia — where they are trampled upon and ignored — and 
unlike India — where they complain of inadequate range for 
their ambition — they already, by virtue of their degrees, 
hold the keys of power. Neither can it be supposed that, 
with a people so obstinate and so vain, there is the smallest 
inclination among the lower strata of society to move where 
their leaders decline to advance. Both find an equal charm 
in stagnation. 



340 CHINA 

What the foreigner realises only dimly and by slow 
degrees is that the Chinaman has not the slightest desire 
to be reformed by him ; that he disputes in toto 
Chinese that reform is reform ; and that no deiTionstration 
' in the world will convince him of the existence of 
a flaw in his own theory of national perfection. He points 
to a Government infinitely more stable than that of any 
Em-opean State, to order observed, and to justice effectively, 
if roughly, administered (the fact that rebellion simmers in 
some provinces, where official embezzlement in times of 
hardship reduces the people to semi-starvation, not being of 
sufficiently wide application to disturb the general pro- 
position) ; he claims a civilisation that was already at a high 
pitch when Britons were wandering painted in the woods ; 
he boasts of a code of ethics equal in wisdom and amplitude 
to our own ; he observes a religion which, while it touches 
the extremes of purity in docti-ine and of degradation in 
practice, is yet accommodated to every situation in life, and 
enables him, subject only to the test of dutiful observance, 
to pass with confidence into a future world. And he turns 
round to us, and, with a pardonable self-confidence, asks 
what we have to give him compared with these. 

This is one aspect of the question — namely, the convinced 
and embittered resistance of all classes to reform, and the 
_,, fear that reform, if forced upon them, may dislodge 

picture of some of the foundation-stones of that fabric of 

"^ ■ which they are so exorbitantly proud. On the 
other hand, must not some weight be attached to the con- 
sideration — -which to the European mind appeal's so irre- 
sistible — that the first tentative steps have been taken in 
a forward direction, that the awakening trumpet has sounded 
in China's ears, and that, once embarked on the path of pro- 
gress she is already launched upon an inclined plane where 



THE SO-CALLED AWAKENING OF CHINA 341 

it will be impossible for her to stop ? This is a plausible and 
a pretty picture, and even its approximate reaHsation might 
enable the Chinese — a nation superbly gifted and possessing 
unique advantages of character, country, and clime — once 
again to repeat the history of the ages and to overrun the 
world. Is this the future that awaits them ? Is this the 
fate that threatens us ? 

I must have argued feebly if I have not already shown 
that in my judgment this consummation is not either to 

be expected or to be feared. Reform, it is true, „, ,. 

^ ' ' The reality 

cannot altogether be hustled out of the door, of stand- 
Its force is like the wind, that bloweth where 
it listeth, and can penetrate even through the chinks and 
crannies. Doubtless in time, as from different quarters 
foreign railways touch the confines of China, native railways 
will be made to meet them. A day will come when mines 
will be exploited^ a decent currency adopted, and rivers will be 
navigated by steam. Neither, though China may be overrun, 
and may even, as she has often done before, accept a change 
of masters, is she likely to be submei'ged. She is for ever 
proof against such a fate by reason of her moral character, 
her swarming millions, and her territorial extent. The con- 
tinued national existence of the Yellow Race may be regarded 
as assured. But that the Empire which in the last fifty 
yeai's has lost Siam, Burma, Annam, Tongking, part of 
Manchuria, Formosa, and Korea, which has already seen a 
foreign army in Peking, and the maritime approaches to 
whose capital have been for a year in the armed occupation 
of a victorious enemy ; whose standard of civil and political 
perfection is summed up in the stationary idea; which, after 
half a century of intercourse with ministers, missionaries, and 
merchants, regards all these as intolerable nuisances, and one 
of the number with peculiar avei'sion ; which only adopts 



342 CHINA 

the lessons that they have taught her when the surrender 
is dictated by her necessities or her fears ; and which^ after 
a twenty years' observation of the neighbouring example of 
Japan, looks with increasing contempt upon a frailty so 
feeble and impetuous — that this Empire is likely to falsify 
the whole course of its history and to wrench round the bent 
of its own deep-seated inclinations, simj^ly because the 
shriek of the steam-whistle or the roar of cannon is heard 
at its gates — is a hypothesis that ignores the accumulated 
lessons of political science and postulates a revival of the 
age of miracles. I have narrated the stages of China's tai'dy 
advance, and I have shown how far she has condescended to 
reform. But it remains a mechanical and not a moral ad- 
vance ; it is an artificial and not an oi'ganic reform. She may 
still continue to play an important part in the development 
of the Asiatic world. Her hardy colonists may sail to every 
quarter of the Eastern hemisphere, and by their frugal toil 
may enrich themselves, while they fail to aggrandise her. 
But, politically speaking, her star is a waning and not a 
rising orb. Sedet ceternumqiie sedebit is the limit of China's 
own aspirations. It may even turn out to be beyond the 
limit of her powers. ^ 

1 This problem is further discussed in Chapter siii. 



CHAPTER XI 

MONASTICISM IN CHINA 

Tantiini relligio potuit suadere malorum. 

Lucretius : De Rerum Ifatura, Lib. i. 101. 

In a previous chapter I have said something about Buddhism 
in Korea^ where it is the discredited but not wholly dis- 
avowed survival of a once dominant creed. I 
propose in this chapter to deal with Buddhism ^ ^?f^f 
in China^ where^ though decadent, it is still 
dominant, and where the explanation of its influence pro- 
vides a clue to many of the dark riddles of the national 
character. Buddhism in China is indeed a curious mixture 
of perishing rites and popular superstitions. There is pro- 
bably no country where there are fewer evidences of faith 
or devotion, or where, on the other hand, an apparently 
doomed system dies so hard. From the squalid and 
dilapidated condition of the temples, from the indifference 
and iiTeverence with which the worshippers enact their 
artificial parts, and from the miserable status of the priest- 
hood, it might be inferred that the days of Buddhism were 
numbered, and that a rival system was driving it from dis- 
honoured shrines. Such, however, would be a most super- 
ficial view of the case. This mysterious religion, which has 
survived the varied competition of Rationalism, Confucianism, 
and Ceremonialism, and which has an antiquity not far short 
of two thousand years in China, is yet the favourite creed of 
a community numbering 350,000,000 ; and despised and de- 



344 CHINA 

generate though it be, it will still lift its head and smile its 
serene Buddha-smile long after its purer and prouder and more 
splendid counterpart in Japan has crumbled into the dust. 

The explanation of this strange anomaly is that the 
popular faith has with rare discretion intertwined itself with 
the popular superstitions. Partly creating and 
stitious partly accommodating itself to them, Buddhism, 

sanction. involved in the sacred ties of Ancestor- Worship, 
and claiming to dispense the portions of another life, has 
wrapped itself in a covering of triple brass, and can afford 
to laugh at its enemies. It has found the key to the inner 
being of this inscrutable people, and, in secure command of 
the lock, takes good care that none other shall tamper 
with the wards. It may safely be contended that, were it 
not for the uneasy anxieties of the Chinese about their 
souls, and the universal and cherished cult of the Family 
Tree, and for the part played in relation to both by the 
Buddhist priesthood, Chinese Buddhism would long ere now 
have languished and disappeared. ^ Dogmas, tenets, ritual, 
and liturgy in themselves are of small import to the 
Celestials. The stately ceremonial of the official creed, 
the intellectual axioms of Confucius, the painted image- 
worship of the Buddhist temple, the mysticism of the 
Rationalists, or sect of Lao-tzu, produce little permanent 

^ In an interesting letter, the late Sir T. Wade, formerly British Minister 
in Peking, wrote to me on this subject as follows : — 'The original capture of 
the lettered classes of China by the apostles of Buddhism was largely due 
to the fact that the period of their greatest activity as writers or trans- 
lators (viz. the Tang Dynasty, a.d. GOO-900) was at the same time eminently 
remarkable for the elegance of its prose and its j>oetry. It was, as we should 
say, the Augustan age of Chinese composition. It has also been due to the 
suj)j)ort which it received with tolerable steadiness from the Central Govern- 
ment, notably under the two last dynasties. And yet, almost universal as 
is the thraldom of its puerile superstitions, it has never supplanted Confuci- 
anism as the national code of ethics, nor has its literature ever been able 
to maintain a footing in the national education.' 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 345 

effect upon their stolid imaginations. The beautiful teach- 
ing enshi'ined in the sacred writings as they came from 
India, the precepts that made white lives and brought 
tearless deaths^ that almost Christianised idolatry and 
might have redeemed a world, have long ago died down into 
frigid calculations, tabulating in opposite columns with 
mathematical nicety the credit and debit accounts of the 
orthodox disciple. Thus, on the one hand, the people are 
plunged in gloomy dread of a hereafter, determined by the 
exact laws of moral retribution ; on the other, deeply em- 
bedded in the springs of their nature, is a fanatical attach- 
ment to their Lares and Penates, and to the worship of the 
dead ; and hence it comes about that the religion which, 
whatever its shortcomings and disqualifications, ministers to 
their requirements in both these respects, is simultaneously 
derided and advocated, neglected and espoused. 

No better illustration of this anomalous state of affairs 
can be given than the condition and public estimation 
of the Buddhist monks. A stranger will at first 
be puzzled by the opposite verdicts which he ^jv^Qry" 
hears jDassed upon this class of inen. He will opinion of 
hear them denovmced as contemptible outcasts, 
as pariahs from society, who have forfeited all the sympa- 
thies of humanity by cutting themselves adrift from all 
human ties. And this is a sentence which to some extent 
finds its corroboration in their forlorn and decrepit appear- 
ance, in their cheerless mode of life, and in their divorce 
from the haunts and homes of men. On the other hand, he 
will find these despised exiles supported by popular contri- 
butions, recruited by voluntary adherents, and engaged in 
the discharge of essential rites at the most solemn moments 
of life and death, and in the service to the dead. A grosser 
seeming contradiction can scarcely be imagined. 



346 CHINA 

And yet it is an identical feeling which is partly respon- 
sible for both attitudes, and which prepares for these 
unhappy creatures this opposite mixture of tolera- 
te ^^.". tion and contempt. The peculiar sanctity of the 

planation. r r- j 

family relations is one cause both of their ostra- 
cism and of their employment. They ai*e needed to 
discharge on behalf of others the very obligations which 
they have renounced themselves. Expelled from the world 
because they have ignored the family, they are brought back 
into it to testify that the family is the first of all earthly 
ties. Can anything more strange be conceived .'' It is a 
creed whose apostates are enlisted as its prophets, and 
whose perverts become its priests. 

When Sakyamuni first instituted the monastic order, like 
St. Anthony he did not contemplate the creation of a 

priestly office, or the rise of a hierarchy. The 

Ungina clerical profession had no special connection in 
conception ^ ^ 

of monas- his mind with monkish life. The first Buddhist 
monks, like those of Egypt, were pious men who, 
in pursuit of their master's teaching that worldly and carnal 
ties were the source of all evil, and the main obstacle to that 
serene altitude of contemplation by which absorption into 
the higher life at length became possible, severed them- 
selves from their fellow-creatures, and sought remote and 
unfriended retreats for purposes of spiritual exercise and 
self-mortification. They were primarily recluses and second- 
arily preachers, but in no resort priests. It was only in 
later times, as the first pattern was forgotten, and accretions 
developed by other countries and circumstances grew up, 
that the manifold accessories of sacerdotalism, particularly 
among the peoples of the north, environed and obscured the 
original ideal. 

The logical carrying out of Buddha's precepts, however. 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 347 

brought the anchorite into early collision with the most 
idolised beliefs of Chinese life. The essence of monasti- 
cisnij viz. the repudiation of all earthly con- 
nections, the lifelona; abandonment of father, . ^'^^^'^" 
' ° ' sion. 

mother, brothers, and sisters, the surrender of the 
covenant of wedlock and the hopes of paternity — above all, 
the utter severance of the limb from the ancestral trunk, is 
the very antipodes of the highest conception of duty that a 
Chinese can entertain. Hence arose the dishonour in which 
the monkish order has long been held, and from which it has 
only rescued its existence by abandoning its traditions. The 
monastery has, in fact, become the very converse of what 
Buddha ever intended that it should be. The secular has 
put on the religious, and the monk has saved himself by 
turning priest. 

We have seen how indispensable are his ministrations in 
the worship of the dead, and in expediting the happy trans- 
migration of the departed soul. There the mum- 
meries of the temple are enlisted to fill up the • ^!^^" "^ 
^ ^ insurance. 

incomplete credentials of the deceased, and to 
vise his passport, so to speak, to another world. To the 
more pious or superstitious (there is no distinction between 
the two classes in China) they are not less obligatory as a 
policy of spiritual insurance, to be taken out with pre- 
cautionary object during lifetime. The Chinaman is a firm 
believer in the doctrine of justification by works ; he expects 
a return in the next life exactly proportionate to the labour 
and money he has spent or caused to be spent in deserving 
it in this. Every mumbled prayer, every tap of the drum 
or clash of the cymbal by the paid hierophant whom he has 
engaged, will be rewarded by so much tangible gain in the 
next stage of existence. Metempsychosis may bring him a 
worse or a better lot ; he may groan in poverty or loll in 



348 CHINA 

wealth ; he may sink to hell or rise to the acme of paradisal 
felicity in a future state. The Buddhist monks are the 
established mediums through whom his merits may be 
demonstrated and made known in heaven ; and from whose 
hands he looks to receive his official diploma of celestial 
promotion. 

The isolation of the novice from all the ties and consola- 
tions of life may well conflict with Chinese prejudices; for 
. it is ghastly in its completeness. Not only, as 

of the has been said, does he renounce all relationships 

and take vows of celibacy, but he casts aside even 
the ultimate symbol of identity, his own name. From the 
hour that he passes the convent threshold, he is known only 
by a religious appellation, in the very grandiloquence of which 
there is something pitiful and absurd. Henceforward he 
must shave his head, eat no animal food, drink no strong 
drink, and wear no skin or woollen garment, but only the 
prescribed vestments of his order. His life is mapped out 
before him in a sterile and dolorous routine. And not only 
has he ceased to be a member of domestic society, but as a 
unit in the civil community he can scarcely be said to exist. 
For he acknowledges no real allegiance to the Emperor, 
albeit the latter is of the family of the gods ; yielding a 
discretionary obedience to the civil authorities, with whom 
he rarely comes in contact, but concentrating all capacity 
for duty in a slavish obedience to the jurisdiction of his 
abbot or religious superior. 

The terrible exclusiveness of this discipline, repellent 
though it is to Chinese ideas, would not be sufficient to 
account for the odium in which the monastery is 
odum^'^ held, were it not for the suspicion that its strin- 
gency is a sham, and that the cowl is often either 
assumed as an escape from justice or worn as a cloak of 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 349 

hypocdsy. It is difficulty for obvious reasons, to discover 
how far the chai'ge that fugitives from the clutch of the law 
shelter themselves within the monastery walls is a true one, 
though it is certain that when once admitted the culprit is 
safe from the bloodhounds of official retribution. I have 
even heard it argued, by way of repudiation of this charge, 
that it is only the most abandoned characters, fleeing from 
the penalties of a capital offence, who will take advantage of 
a refuge so discredited as the cloister ; though to contend 
that a society is not criiTiinally recruited because only crimi- 
nals of the deepest dye can be persuaded to attach them- 
selves to it, does not seem to me a very happy method of 
exculpation. I am reminded by it of an incident which I 
came across while travelling in Greece some years ago. The 
public executioner in that country was a character held in 
such general detestation that he was forced to live apart, 
strictly guarded, on a little island in the harbour of Nauplia. 
And not only that ; but such difficulty was experienced in 
filling the place, that the selected candidate was, as a rule, 
taken from the criminal class itself — a bandit being pardoned 
in order that he might be utilised to cut off the heads of 
other bandits. At the time of my visit one of these worthies 
had just completed the term of his office, but whether owing 
to the unpopularity he had contracted by its discharge, or to 
the distrust he had inspired by his previous habits of life, he 
considered himself in so much danger that he solved the 
problem of his future mode of existence by entering a 
monastery and assuming the cowl. In China he would 
presumably have taken this step at an earlier stage in his 
career. 

Whatever be the truth about the Buddhist monasteries in 
China as Cities of Refuge, and whether the slur cast upon 
them by that suspicion be just or not, there is less room for 



350 CHINA 

doubt that the pattern of ascetic life to which the monk 

is understood to aspire is one to which he most infrequently 

conforms. His celibacy and his vegetarianism are 

Common fj-eely impuffned. It is perhaps only natural that 
imposture. ^ r o r r j 

the theory that drinking-water and vegetables 
are teeming with animalculse or with the germs of animal 
life should be one which he indignantly rejects, seeing that 
were he to accept it he would be hard put to subsist at all, 
with any regard at least to the precepts of the Buddhistic 
canon. But, alas ! he is the victiiTi of more substantial 
charges. It is whispered that the odour of meat and fish, 
and the tell-tale fragrance of the opium-pipe are no 
strangers to the recluse's cell. With greater certainty he is 
accused of being dirty, degraded^ and ignorant, subsisting on 
alms which he does nothing to merit, and of prostituting his 
worship into a mummery which he does not himself compre- 
hend. If even a fraction of these charges be true, there can 
be small surprise that the monastic profession is held in so 
little repute among a people who are by no means deficient 
in their standards of the sober moral virtues. 

It may be wondered how a society held in such slight 
esteem, and offering so few advantages, save to the stupid 
^.„ or indolent, can continually replenish its ranks. 

classes of The means of doing so are, however, many and 
varied, even if we reject the criminal hypothesis 
to which I have alluded.^ In some cases the children are 
bought at an early age from their parents ; though so strong 
is the family feeling in China that it is only under pressure of 

^ It is scarcely possible to do so, in the face of the evideiice of such an 
authority and eye-witness as the late Archdeacon Gray, who, in his work on 
China, embodying the experience of a long life, said (vol. i. chajj. iv.) that he 
himself saw at different times in Buddhist monasteries an escaped murderer, 
a brothel-house keejjer, and a condemned rebel, who had been gratefully 
admitted because he j)ossessed a little monej', which went to swell the cor- 
porate funds. 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 351 

the direst necessity that the average jMleiifamilias will consent, 
even for a price, to part with his offspring, particularly of the 
male sex. Sometimes the young children are kidnapped 
and sold to the priests ; this profession being, however, a 
dangerous one, as, if detected, it is punishable by death. 
More commonly young lads are voluntarily dedicated by 
their parents in fulfilment of some vow, or for the sake of 
spiritual gain, the transfer being effected with all the 
formalities of a mercantile transaction. It is foi-bidden, 
however^ by law to surrender the entire male stock of a 
family to the cloister ; and in the event of there being two 
sons, the younger only may be sacrificed. A second class of 
adherents will be those who, from satiety of the world, or 
pecuniary collapse, or official failure, or material disappoint- 
ment in some form or other, have decided to abandon the 
thorny paths of life, and to seek a safe retreat from its 
multitudinous cares. Lastly, there will be some, even in 
China and in the nineteenth century, to whom a life of 
joyless penance and austerity will appeal with irresistible 
force as an expiation for the sins of the flesh, and a plank 
of passage into the world to come — sad, sorrowful wretches, 
after the pattern of St. Simeon, who live apart in isolated 
cells, performing acts of cruel self-torture, and mumbling in 
solitude the accents of an unintelligible ritual. 

Their means of subsistence are as varied as the ranks from 
which their disciples are drawn. The large monasteries 
possess endowments of property, principally in ^ 
land, from -which they derive an income, either in subsist- 
rent or in the profits of the cultivation of their ^^^^' 
own hands. Voluntary donations are also made to their 
funds by those who, while despising the monastery, cannot 
dispense with the services of the monk. The sale of joss- 
sticks and incense, of gilt paper and tapers, and the fees for 



352 CHINA 

services, ceremonies, and prayers, are also a considerable 
source of eniolument. And when all these fail, there is 
always begging to fall back upon, the ultimate resort of all 
creeds in all ages. The Buddhist priests are no amateurs in 
the art of mendicancy. Sometimes large bands of them may 
be seen patrolling the streets, and by the discordant clamour 
of a gong calling attention to the unmistakable character 
of the errand which has brought them down into the 
thoroughfares of men. By these different methods they 
manage to scrape along ; their buildings and temples just 
saved from dilapidation; their persons and costumes in the 
last stage of seediness and decay ; their piety an illusion, 
their pretensions a fraud; themselves at once the saviours 
and the outcasts of society, its courted and its despised. 

I have visited many Buddhist monasteries and temples in 

China ; and have usually found that they correspond to the 

following description. Three buildings are ranged 

onas ic ^^g behind the other on terraces, and approached 

temples. ' ^^ 

by a series of paved courts and rows of granite 
steps. There is something solemn and imposing in this 
succession of structures, each one properly exceeding its 
predecessor in magnificence, and leading on the imagination 
from what it has already seen to what is yet to come. It is 
an architectural device that we know was familiar to the 
Jews and Egyptians, and that appeal's to be common to all 
Oriental religions. It is nowhere employed with greater 
effect than in the splendid Buddhist sanctuaries and royal 
mausoleums of Japan. 

The entrance gateway, which is of the nature of an open 
temple, sometimes contains a colossal gilt idol in the centre, 
representing Maitreya Buddha (in Chinese Mili Fo), or 
Buddha To Come ; and on either side are the four diabolical- 
looking monstei-s, with painted faces and flaming eyeballs, 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 353 

who represent the deified warriors appointed to keep guard 
over the shrines of Buddha, and who symbolise an absolute 
command over all the forces of earth and heaven. 
They are identical with the Maharajahs, or Great ^"/J^^'^^ 
Kings, of Hindu mythology^ who, attended by a 
host of spiritual beings, march hither and thither to the 
pi'otection of devout disciples and the execution of Buddha's 
will over the four quarters of the universe. In China they 
are known as the Tien Wong. One of them, with a white 
face, holds an umbrella, the circumference of which, when 
opened, overshadows the whole earth, and is lord of the 
forces of thunder and rain. Another, with a red face, 
controls the elements of fire, water, and air, and plays a 
species of stringed instrument, the vibrations of whose chords 
shake the foundations of the world. The third, with a 
green face, brandishing a sword, and the fourth with a blue 
face, clasping a serpent, are typical of supreme dominion 
over nature and man. In these figures, which are common 
throughout China, and are uniform in design and monstrosity, 
the artist has combined the hideous and the grotesque in 
very equal proportions. But little skill seems ever to have 
been expended upon their construction. 

This gateway leads into a spacious paved court, at the 
upper end of which, on a granite platform, rises the fabric of 
the main temple. A huge high-pitched tile roof 
almost eclipses the front and side walls, which temole 
are commonly destitute of ornamentation. The 
interior consists of a big parallelogram, divided by circular 
painted columns into three main and two side aisles. Fronting 
the principal avenues are the three familiar figures called 
the Sang Po, or Precious Ones, which are always found in 
the churches of Buddhist monasteries, and which are 
incarnations respectively of the past, the present, and the 

z 



354 CHINA 

future Buddha ; or, to give them their correct titles, of 

Sakyamuni, Kwanyin, and Maitreya.^ These idols are made 

of clay, thickly gilt, and highly burnished. Their faces 

wear that expression of ineffable self-complacency which is 

common to the Buddha all over the East, but which, while 

in Japan it is always sublime, in China is apt to overslip the 

razor's edge into the ridiculous. The bodies are seated, and 

rise from the calyx of a lotus-flower. Below the images are 

altars laden with weighty bronzes, with big candelabra, and 

with censers, a thin smoke curling upwards from the slow 

combustion of blocks of sandalwood, or from sheaves of 

smouldering joss-sticks standing in a vase. On either side 

of the lateral aisles are ranged along a recess in the wall the 

smaller gilt figures of the Eighteen Lohans or Disciples of 

Buddha, whose features exaggerate the silliness, while they 

altogether miss the serenity depicted in the countenance of 

their illustrious master. The prevailing colours in the surface 

decorations of the columns and rafters, which are rudely 

painted, are everywhere red and green. 

When service is going on, the aisles are laid out with 

rows of long, low, sloping stools, upon which at intervals 

rest circular straw hassocks. Behind these stand 
Service. 

the monks intoning the words of the prescribed 

liturgy. The service is led by one of their number, who 

officiates at an isolated mat before the great altar. Their 

dresses are cut after one pattern, and are dingy in the 

extreme, consisting of loose cotton robes of two colours — 

yellow and an ashen-grey — with turn-down collars, and a 

1 Sometimes in the main hall of Buddhist temples in China this trinity 
represents Sakyamuni in the centre, with two of his most famous disciples, 
Kashiapa, the first patriarch, represented as an old man, on one side, and 
Ananda, the second patriarch, as a young man, on the other. Sometimes 
the two supporters are Bodhisattwas, or prospective Buddhas, who, in the 
evolution of their salvation, have reached the penultimate stage ; and of 
whom the best known is the jovial image of Maitreya, the Buddlia To Come, 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 355 

clasp m front. No monk is allowed, according to the strict 
regulation of the canon, to possess more than one set of 
garments, and this he is compelled to wear both day and 
night. Their heads are clean-shaven, a ceremonial which is 
performed about twice a month. Here and there on the 
bald craniums one may note small disc-like cicatrices, or scars, 
burnt in by the hand of the abbot alone, as a badge of their 
sacred calling, or in fulfilment of some particular vow. Their 
hands are piously folded in front of them, and the nails have 
been suffered to grow to inordinate dimensions. 

The expression of their features is usually one of blank 
and idiotic absorption ; which is, perhaps, not surprising, 
considering that of the words which they intone „ 
scarcely one syllable do they themselves under- praterea 
stand. The mass-book is a dead letter to them, 
for it is written in Sanskrit or Pali, which they can no more 
decipher than fly. The words that they chant are merely 
the equivalent in sound of the original sentences, rendered 
into Chinese characters, and are therefore totally devoid of 
sense. To this stale shibboleth, or ignorant repetition of 
unmeaning sounds, they attribute a vital importance.^ It 
is, they point out, the sacred language of Fan (the birth- 
place of Buddha), and is therefore of divine origin and 
efficacy. The 'blessed word Mesopotamia' was not more 
fraught with consolation to the incurious Christian than 
is this stupid jargon to the Chinese bonze. Or let me 
give a more practical illustration. The case would be a 
similar one if the responses in an English church were 
to be uttered in the Greek tongue, transcribed into 
English spelling and gabbled out by illiterate rustics — 
an absurdity of which, as a matter of fact, our chant- 

1 Compare Matthew vi. 7 : ' But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as 
the heathen do ; for they think that they shall be heard for their much 



356 CHINA , 

books are not altogether guiltless, seeing that the re- 
sponses to the Commandments in the Communion Service 
are always described in their pages as Kyrie Eleison, a 
phrase which must be gibberish to nine out of every ten 
choristers who read it. The effect upon a service so 
conducted, and -still more upon the ministrants, is obvious. 
No sincerity can be expected of a purely phonetic devotion. 
It is vox et prceterea nihil. 

And yet we must not be too severe upon these benighted 
disciples of Buddha in the uplands of the Celestial Empire. 

_. , Other churches and other creeds have been guilty 

Tenants ° •' 

of glass of the same pretence, and have found a saving 

virtue in the use of an unknown tongue. Jew 

and Gentile, Christian and heretic, Catholic and Moslem 

have all acted upon the principle that the more restricted 

the understanding the more implicit the acceptance, and 

have imparted the secrets of salvation in accents that 

kept them secrets still, to be interpreted not by the 

ear of sense, but by that of faith. To this day how 

many of the singers in the choir of a Catholic church 

understand even a fraction of the Latin litany which they 

intone .'' 

The murmur of the chant is accompanied by intermittent 

music from such instruments as the Oriental loves. An 

acolyte from time to time strikes a drum, the 
Procession. 

framework of which is of wood, carved and 

painted to represent a huge pot-bellied fish. Another 

tinkles a bell in the background, and now and then 

breaks in the dissonant clangour of a gong. After a 

while a fresh note is struck ; and at the signal the 

priests separate into two companies, and proceed for a 

long time to wind in and out of the lines of stools in a 

slow and solemn procession. Backwards and forwards, in 



MONASTICISM IN CHINA 357 

and outj with measured tread and even steps they pace 
along, their hands clasped, their heads bowed, their lips 
still murmuring the same unintelligible refrain, in which 
may be distinguished the sounds Omito Fo (Amitabha 
Buddha), the repetition of which many thousands of times 
is pregnant with salvation. 

Behind and beyond the Main Temple extends a second 
paved quadrangle, a further temple at the upper end of 
which very frequently contains a marble dagoha, 
or sculptured reliquary, with altars and shrines. 
Here is concealed , some peculiarly sacred object, very 
possibly a tooth of the great Buddha himself. Even 
devotees have been somewhat staggered by the number 
of these well-authenticated relics that are scattered through- 
out the Eastern world; and an early Chinese geographer, 
visiting Ceylon, and being everywhere shown tooth after 
tooth, ended by solemnly remarking of his master, ' He was 
born with an excessive number of teeth.' 

At the rear and sides of the temples are the domestic 
premises of the monks; the kitchen, where the daily rice 
is boiled in a huge earthenware vat; the refectory, 
where on hard tables and harder benches it is j.gj^jggs^ 
consumed in silence under the supervision of 
the abbot; the guest-chambers reserved for the not too 
enervating entertainment of guests; and the sleeping 
apartments beyond these, which can rarely, save by a 
euphemism, be so leniently described. 

The bodies of the monks themselves are in the greater 
part of China burned and not buried after death ; although 
in the north this is a privilege that is reserved 
for the Fang-chang, or head-priests. Contrary 
to the custom in Japan, where creiTiation is imiversal 
among the common people, in China it is only the 



358 CHINA 

prerogative or the peculiarity of the religious order. 
Each monastery contains its crematorium, and its cmnpo 
santo, where are deposited the ashes of the dead. The body 
is placed in a sitting position in an open plank coffin, and is 
carried out to the furnace, which is of the simplest descrip- 
tion, consisting merely of a small brick chamber or tower, 
standing by itself in a detached situation. There the corpse 
is placed upon the ground, surrounded and supported by 
faggots ; the attendant monks intone a chant ; and the mortal 
remains of their departed brother are speedily reduced to 
ashes, while the smoke from the pyre escapes through a 
single orifice in the roof. Thus, unpretentiously and with 
scant attempt at decorum, the mortal coil is shuffled off, 
and its discharged inmate goes on his way to solve the 
great mystery. 



THE PROSPECT 

■ Tu i-egere imijerio populos, Romane, memento ! 
Use tibi erunt artes, i^acisque imponere morem, 
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.' 

Virgil : JSneicl, vi. 851-853. 



CHAPTER XII • 

AFTER THE WAR 

Parosmiographi Grceci : Macarius, v. 85. 

In the earlier chapters of this book I have narrated the 
sequence of events that preceded and culminated in the 

outbreak of hostilities between Japan and China ^ 

i Responsi- 

in the summer of 1894. I have no desire here to bility for 

1-1 -i-iii the War. 
give a history 01 the war^ which might indeed be 

recorded in a few sentences, but which, in the hands of one 
who was not upon the spot, could only be a compilation. 
The question, however, of the partition of responsibility be- 
tween the two combatants is one that has naturally excited 
much attention, and has elicited the most opposite verdicts. 
On the one hand have been those, the majority in numbers, 
who have attributed the entire provocation and initiative to 
Japan. On the other hand a small but devoted band of 
adherents has consistently represented the struggle as one 
between Civilisation and Barbarism, to which the former 
was impelled by a challenge which it could not honourably 
resist. ^^ 

In one sense it is true that the war was inevitable ./ It 
was the historical coraUary_of__the_eYg .nts of 1 592-8. / Japan 
had never forgiven the humiliation which she then 
sustained at the hands of China, upon Korean soil, ^.g^detta 
and for three centuries La Revanche had been as 
fixed an idea in the bosom of Japanese patriots as it has been 

361 



? ^B ij< 



362 THE PROSPECT 

for the last quarter of a century in a not dissimilar case in 
Europe. Sooner or later an appeal to arms was almost 
certain for the settlement of this traditional feud ; and the 
long and strenuous military and naval preparations of Japan 
since her apparition on the international stage as an organised 
modern Power were not obscurely directed to such an issue, 
and might have been interpreted as a wai-ning by any nation 
less arrogant and blind than China. For her part, the latter 
did nothing whatever either to avoid or to postpone the 
rupture ; and her policy of obstructive and dilatory con- 
servatism in Korea, though based upon a suzerainty which 
I hold to have been technically indisputable, must have been 
intenseiyifiixasperating to the already wounded susceptibilities 
of Japan. To this extent, therefore^ may it be said that 
China, by her tactics and her temper, brought upon herself 
the retribution that was to come. 

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that, in the chain of 
events immediately preceding the war, Japan, having long 
before made up her mind to fight at the first 
econ ary convenient opportunity, 'forced the pace ' — if such 
a metaphor may be permitted — in order to suit the 
exigencies of the moment ; and that in the actual outbreak 
of hostilities she was pointedly the aggressor,. A variety of 
circumstances contributed to render the juncture favourable, 
in her opinion, for an appeal to arms. After long preparation, 
her armaments on land and sea had reached a pitch of 
efficiency which her experts assured her could leave no doubt 
of the issue of a conflict with China, but which it was at the 
samie time desirable and convenient to test upon the corpus 
vile of a second-rate Power. The Parliamentary situation 
in Japan was fraught with so many difficulties, owing to the 
undisciplined development of party feeling and to cabals 
against the Government, that some appeal to a larger 



AFTER THE WAR 363 

patriotism seemed essential in order to save the new Con- 
stitution from premature shipwreck. A forward policy would 
be acceptable to the Radical or Opposition party^ with whom 
the recoveiy of Japanese influence in Korea had always been 
a favourite cry. Simultaneously, there was among the leading 
Japanese statesmen an anxious and far-sighted desire, im- 
perfectly realised by European observers or critics, to an- 
ticipate the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway by 
Russia, and to vindicate, before it was too late, the pretensions 
of Japan to a leading voice in the impending reconstruction 
of the balance of power in the Far East. Among the 
secondary motives here mentioned, I say nothing of the 
unselfish desire to endow Korea with the beauties of civilisa- 
tion ; since that plea, after figuring for a short time in the 
magazine-apologies of enthusiasts, was less and less heard 
of as the war proceeded, and it was found that Korea was 
the principal sufferer by the venture, and has subsequently 
disappeared altogether from view in the complete breakdown 
of the attempt to force upon her the unwelcome luxury, 
expressly imported for the purpose from Japan. 

War having once been declared, it was evident that the 
national spirit was intensely and unanimously enlisted in the 
enterprise. It was felt that Japan was playing 
for a high stake, and that there must be no patriotism 

bickering or iealousv at the table. No country, ^^^ P^^' 

^ •> J •" parations. 

in all probability, ever went to war, sustained by 

a higher or more unfaltering fervour of patriotism than 
did Japan. Then, too, it was discovered how ubiquitous and 
exhaustive, and almost Machiavellian in their patient secrecy, 
had been her preparations. Skilled topographers in disguise 
had mapped the high-roads of China, and had plotted their 
angles over the interior of Korea. Hydrographical surveys, un- 
ostentatiously pursued for years, had acquainted the Japanese 



S64 THE PROSPECT 

with every inlet in the Korean coast, and had furnished the 
chart-room of every vessel in her Navy with hitherto un- 
published maps. Her mobilisation proceeded with a smooth- 
ness and rapidity that excited the admiration of the European 
military attaches; her organisation and equipment were 
wonderful in their completeness. The Japanese Intelligence 
Department might have been engaged upon, just as it had 
certainly been preparing for, a campaign for years. Its spies 
were everywhere, in the offices and arsenals, in the comicil- 
chambers and amid the ranks, of the enemy. The Press 
was manipulated and controlled with a masterly despotism 
that would have been impossible in Europe. Finally, the 
^trat^^y of the Japanese generals, if not brilliant, was de- 
liberate, scientific, and successful. 

If, however, we turn from the contemplation and admission 
of these excellent merits to the actual fighting on the battle- 
field, it by no means follows, as has been too 
Japan on 
the battle- generally supposed, that Japan either showed or 

had the opportunity of showing, the capacities of 
a first-rate military Power. During the seven months of 
active operations, she never encountered an enemy, and 
hardly fought a battle, worthy of the name. There con- 
fronted her, in the majority of cases, not a disciplined army 
but a rabble of tramps ; she was opposed, not by fire, but by 
fireworks. The Chinese resistance was in nine instances out 
of ten a farce that would have been laughable had it not 
been piteous. It was generally known in advance when and 
where the Japanese attack would be delivered; and after 
a preliminary volley from the Celestial rank-and-file in order 
to ' save their face,' a general stampede followed in order to 
save their lives. It is even said that many of the Chinese 
commanders wei*e in the pay of Japan. That this criticism, 
which is based upon the observations of actual spectators of 



AFTER THE WATl 365 

the war, is correct, might also be inferred from the figm'es of 
the death-roll as officially published by the Japanese them- 
selves. Though they lost 3284 men in the entire war, 
2489 of these perished from cholera or other diseases, while 
795 only were killed or died of their wounds, over half of 
this total being claimed by the storming of Port Arthur. 
Pe7^ contra, the Japanese claim to have killed 27,917 of the 
enemy. So prodigious a disparity between the two death- 
lists is quite irreconcilable with severe fighting. The 
Japanese artillery is said to have been well served and to 
have wrought great execution ; but the infantry fire is 
reported to have been uniformly bad. The fact that Japan 
was confronted by an enemy who had not the courage to 
stand up to her, is of course no proof that she would not 
have vanquished an enemy who had. Nor does it detract 
from the valour and discipline which her troops seem, as a 
rule, to have displayed. But it does fail to justify the con- 
clusion, which has been very widely drawn from the issue of 
the conflict, that the Japanese proved themselves thereby 
to be a military Power of the first order, capable of being 
arrayed against the best troops of European States. The 
lessons of the naval battle of the Yalu, where the Japanese, 
in spite of their victory, could not prevent the enemy's ships 
from escaping, were not dissimilar from those of the more 
numerous land fights. From the later incidents of the 
struggle the truth became even more apparent. For it was 
owing solely to the exhaustion entailed by what had been, 
after all, but a brief campaign, that Japan was obliged to 
abandon the__fondly-cherished idea of a march upon Peking,N 
and, at a still more recent date, to give back, under European 
pressure, Port^Arthur and the Liao-tung Peninsula. 

No detraction however from the credit legitimately due to 
Japan, which, in any case, stands sufficiently high to suffer 



366 THE PROSPECT 

little from the loss^ will avail anything to redeem the 

stupendous and unimaginable ineptitude of China. To those 

^ . who have read this book^ the reasons of that 

Causes of , 

Chinese collapse, which is without a parallel in history, will 

isas er. have been manifest on almost every page ; and it 
is surprising to me that they should have been so long and 
obstinately ignored, not by Englishmen in China, to the 
majority of whom they were well known, but by Englishmen 
at home, for whom the Celestial imposture has always pos- 
sessed irresistible attractions. Journalists and writers have 
ever since been engaged upon the attempt to find out why 
it was that China was so disastrously beaten. The reasons, 
in their broader aspect, were twofold; although when we 
come to sub-headings it is difficult to find a point at which 
to stop. Most of the causes may, however, be classified 
under the title either of civil corruption, permeating every 
stratum of society, or of military imbecility, with a particular 
asterisk to the names of those enjoying high commands. 

From the Palace downwards there was no centralisation 
of authority or responsibility, no unity of counsel, no agree- 
ment as to action, no* plan of campaign. Stupefied 

ivi cor- bewilderment, helpless inertia, or arrogant con- 

ruption. ' f > ts 

^ tempt for the invader, prevailed alternately, some- 

times simultaneously, in every t/amen. Each man was 
absorbed in the effort to get the better of somebody 
else, and to make something for his own pocket out of so 
paying a concern as a campaign. Viceroys swindled 
governors, governors swindled generals, and generals 
swindled subalterns. There were infinite and delicately- 
shaded grades of peculation. Of patriotism, or enthusiasm 
for the war, or loyalty to the dynasty, or self-respect 
for the race, there was not a sign. Chinese telegraph- 
clerks sold important information to the Japanese ; Chinese 



AFTER THE WAR 367 

officers accepted bribes to retreat or to surrender. Nobody 
thought of China. In the fii'st resort a man cared only to 
'_saye_lTiis own face'; in the last, as I have before said, to 
sa^ his skin. For years had China succeeded in baffling 
the distant European Powers by the poet's Riddling of 

the Bards : 

'^_Confusioii, and illusion, and relation, 
Elusion, and occasion, and evasion ' ; 

and the same policy she thought would equally suffice for 
an exasperated and revengeful neighbour, with three army 
corps landed upon her soil. One brave sailor, the Admiral 
Ting, who committed suicide after the fall of Wei Hai Wei, 
and a few of his officers stand out as having endeavoured with 
single-hearted courage to do their duty. The remainder of 
the civil and military hierarchy were like a frightened 
herd of cattle cowering beneath a tree during a storm, and 
each trying to squeeze itself furthest away from the lightning 
and the rain. 

Not less deplorable were the disorganisation and dis- 
honesty that permeated every branch of the military and naval 
services, and predestined the campaign to igno- 
minious failure, even before it had begun. I have i^"'*^^^y 

^ incapacity. 

already explained in this book that military 
efficiency, in the modern acceptation of the term, is incom- 
patible with the blind dominion of a systenti that regards war- 
fare as a degradation of manhood, and inculcates the despica- 
bility of military service. The best men in China will not 
join the army; and the officers are of little superior origin 
to the untutored coolies whom, from a safe distance, 
they order to destruction. China was supposed for 
years to have been preparing herself, after the European 
example and with European mechanism, for, war Avith any 
foreign Power sufficiently rash to attack her. But, as I 



368 THE PROSPECT 

pointed out at an earlier date, these preparations had been 
limited to the defence of such spots upon her coast-line as 
an enemy depending upon sea power would be likely to 
assault. No idea of an overland march by an invader 
had entered her head ; whilst, though she has since been 
accused of having herself contemplated an attack upon Japan, 
not a thought had ever been turned to the requirements of a 
foreign expedition. When the war broke out, neither War 
Office, Horse Guards, nor General Staff existed to formulate or 
to direct the campaign. There was no Chinese Commander- 
in-Chief. Each commanding officer acted with the cheerful 
irresponsibility of combined jealousy and ignorance. Com- 
missariat, transport, and ambulance can scarcely be said to 
have broken down, for they had never even been artificially 
bolstered up. The army was an unwieldy and disjointed 
mass, without unity, without cohesion, without a brain, 
without strength, with no mark of an organism save a 
ravenous stomach for the rations that were only procurable 
by plunder, and for the retrograde movement that grew to 
be so alluring. 

Man for man, the Chinese rank-and-file were reported by 
observers to be physically superior to the Japanese. In any 

test, either of strength or endurance, thev ought, 

The ' ^ > J b ' 

Chinese apart from armament, to have swept their little 
^° ^^^' opponents off"the field. But under-fed, ill-equipped, 
unpaid, and disgracefully led — driven, in fact, like sheep to 
the shambles — who could expect them to fight for a cause in 
which they took no interest, and against an enemy with 
whom they had no passionate quarrel ? Spears, tridents, 
cutlasses, gingals, pikes, old muzzle-loaders stuffed with 
stones and nails, which were the common weapons of the 
Chinese infantry, did not in themselves suggest at all an 
equal combat against repeating rifles, however clumsily 



AFTER THE WAR 369 

handled. But even so, the mere human instinct might some- 
where have provoked a manly response, had it not been for 
the paralysing incubus of the native officer. The latter 
sustained a reputation already unique in the world. He 
stole the men's pay; he sold their warm clothing; he 
provided them with bad ammunition ; and he took to his 
heels with a celerity that the most insubordinate of sub- 
ordinates found irresistibly catching. Had the petty officers 
only developed the additional aptitude for suicide, which 
prescription dictated to the failures of a higher gi'ade in the 
service, it might have fared better with the Chinese fortunes. 
At Wei Hai Wei, where almost alone there was decent 
leading, there was also, among the sailors, decent fighting. 

Such were some at least of the main causes that were 
accountable for the ignominious defeat of China, and for the 
easy victory of Japan. I pass on to consider the 
effect that has been produced by the issue of the ,, ^ 
war upon the temper and policy of both nations, 
as well as upon the position of the unhappy little country 
whose misfortune it was to provoke the contest. 

It might have been thought, after the appalling thorough- 
ness of the Chinese exposure, that that Power, though she 
could hardly feel grateful to Japan for the service 
so remorselessly rendered, would at least have rjjjna^"^ 
shown some inclination to profit by its lessons. 
Some symptoms of recovered initiative in the Palace, of a 
belated admission of convicted fiascoes on the part of the 
ruling junta, or of reformatory zeal among the more in- 
telligent mandarins, might have been looked for. China 
having escaped, owing to the interested intervention of 
foreign Powers, with no worse penalty than the surrender 
of an island which she had never been able either to 
conquer or to administer, and the payment of an indemnity, 



370 THE PROSPECT 

for the loan of which she was willing to mortgage a security 
whose value she owed to the foreigner^ not to herself — had 
a rare opportunity, as soon as peace was concluded, and she 
had satisfied the natural claims of her saviours, of putting 
her own house in order and of fortifying her still prodigious 
resources against another day. No such reflection, however, 
seems to have presented itself to the Chinese mind. She 

\ appears to have Jearned nothing, and, what is worse, to have 
unlearned nothing, from the war. She is content to remain 
the same old China, untaught and unteachable. Satisfied 
at having emerged from the struggle with no very serious 
interruption of internal order (the frail thread of connection 
by which the inert and heterogeneous mass of the Empire 
continues to be held together is one of the most remarkable 
of Chinese phenomena), without detriment to the dynasty, 
and without the dreaded profanation of Peking, she has 
settled down once more into the enjoyment of her traditional 
repose. Her complacency is stimulated by the consciousness 
that rival jealousies may be counted upon to retard, if not to 
prohibit, her disruption ; and is flattered by the international 
competition for a share in her financial spoils. Some 
tentative steps in the direction of so-called Reform she may 
take, rather with the view of appeasing others than of 
benefiting herself. A railroad here, an arsenal there, an 
order in one country for ships, an appeal to another for 
officers — these may be duly anticipated. But to the idea of 
any radical change in the system, or of any voluntary effort 
at national recuperation, the answer returned will prove to 

, be the eternal and contemptuous ' No.' 

To those who are interested in China for her sake rather 
than for their own, and who are conscious of the wonderful 
and admirable capacities of her people, this cannot fail to 
be a most heartrending response. Whatevei' solution the 



AFTER THE WAR 371 

jealousy of rival Powers may suggest to the prepossessions 

of each, there are few dispassionate persons who would not 

welcome the spectacle of a resuscitated China, 

seriously grappling with the hard facts of her ., , 

position, and addressing herself to the earnest 

utilisation of her magnificent resources, and of the virtues of 

a richly endowed race. She might undertake the reconstruc- J 

tion of a National Army, in the true sense of the word, for r- 

which the most splendid material is spoiling to be employed. \ ^ 

A fresh Navy might be created, not by the mere order of 

ironclads, but by engaging an entire foreign staff, and by the 

institution of genuine scientific training in Government 

Colleges. The construction and the custody of the national 

defences should be taken out of the hands of pi'ovincial 

governors and viceroys, and should be subordinated to a 

single plan of Imperial defence. A genuine policy of 

railroad construction, of the improvement of river navigation, 

and of public works and communications generally, would 

not merely add greatly to the wealth of the country, but 

would strengthen the central authority and retard the 

chances of rebellion. The success of the Imperial Customs, 

under European management, furnishes a model which 

might be applied to almost every branch of the public 

service. Trained financiers could be hired to reorganise the 

obsolete and cumbrous system of revenue and taxation. A 

complete reorganisation of the Civil Service and of salaries 

would in time ensue. Above all the Upas-tree of the 

Mandarinate should be attacked and cut down. 

If China were, even now, at the eleventh hour, to under- 
take this task ; if, in fact, she were to borrow a 
leaf from the school-book of her recent adversary ^^^^i^u 
and conqueror, not merely would she extort 
universal sympathy in place of contempt ; but in twenty 



372 THE PROSPECT 

years' time she might place herself on the level of her 
own lofty conceit, and might hold her own even against a 
combination of those who are now individually too powerful 
for her. If she deliberately refrains from doing so, the 
tutelage which she will not voluntarily engage for herself 
will some day be forcibly applied to her by others ; her 
industrial exploitation, once taken seriously in hand, will pour 
wealth into other coffers, not into her own : in her refusal 
to employ foreign servants she will discover that she has 
invited foreign masters ; and where procrastination has been 
the sole policy, she may find, when it is too late, that partition 
is the inevitable result. 

From China I pass to her recent vassal and faithful 
disciple, Korea, who has suffered even more than herself in 

the overthrow of Chinese fortunes, and who now, 
?; po^ ii^ sackcloth and ashes, bewails the independence 

of which she has been the forced recipient. In 
my original edition I described Korea as she appeared on 
the eve of the struggle. It was not a happy or a creditable 
spectacle ; but such as it was, the Koreans, so far as they 
took any part in the contest, fought for its maintenance 
and not for its overthrow, and are now engaged in the 
effort to set up again a duplicate of the system, to relieve 
them from which the war was ostensibly undertaken. I 
wrote in my first edition : ' A country that is too weak to 
stand alone gains nothing by an affected indifference to 
external support. If Korea is not to collapse irretrievably, 
she must leati u pon a str onger^ Power : and every considera- 
tion of policy points towards maintaining China in the 
position of protector which she has hitherto filled.' Let 
me now describe how the experiment has fared, not of 
substituting the protectorate of Japan for that of China — 
for independence, and not a mere exchange of suzerainty, 



AFTER THE WAR 373 

was the avowed object of the campaign — but of replacing 

an accepted vassalage by an independence which the petty 

little kingdom is far too corrupt to profit by, and too decrepit 

to retain. I know of no more' interesting page in modern 

history than the attempt to dragoon Korea into a civilisation 

that is abhorrent both to her tastes and to her traditions. 

Let it be admitted to start with that few countries in the 

world have ever stood in greater need of reform than Korea, 

and that the Japanese anxiety to apply the pui'ge, 

thouffh only a secondary motive of the war, has ^f^*^ ^°^ 
° •' •' ' rerorm. 

been of no make-believe character, but has been 
/pushed with the professional earnestness of the physician 
enforcing a disagreeable medicine upon some refractory 
Vpatient. This book will have shown the accumulated mass 
of abuses in Korea — the fearful extortion and misgovern- 
ment of the ruling classes, the sale of offices, the confusion 
of the Court with the administration, the judicial oppression 
and negation of civil rights, the scandalous state of the 
currency, of communications, and of native industry — with 
which it should not have been outside the scope of cautious 
statesmanship to grapple ; but for the successful eradica- 
tion of which were required, not the canons of abstract 
perfection, nor the servile standards of the class-room and 
the copy-book, but a conciliatory temper, inexhaustible 
patience, and a resolute though gentle hand. It has been 
in too headlong a spirit that the Japanese have addressed 
themselves to a task that would have frightened any less 
eager or more experienced people ; and the fruit of their 
hasty sowing is now manifest in the deplorable failure of 
the harvest. If this is disparaging to Japan, it is equally 
disappointing to those who would have liked to see the 
Korean house swept and garnished, but had no particular 
desire that it should be turned inside out or upside down. 



374 THE PROSPECT 

The Japanese were well acquainted with the manifold 
evils that called for redress in Korea, and long before the 
war broke out, they were prepared, in the pigeon- 
Japanese holes of Tokio bureaux, with a cut-and-dried 
efforts. ' 

scheme of reforms as precise as their military 

plan of campaign. The first revelation of these was con- 
tained in the demand addressed by Viscount Mutsu to 
China in June 1894, to join with Japan in enforcing upon 
Korea the reoi*ganisation of her finances, a reform of the 
civil service, and the institution of a national army. These 
suggestions, in the hands of Mr. Otori, the Japanese 
minister at Soul, presently assumed a larger shape, as the 
Chinese refusal to join Japan in this gratuitous programme 
of purification became more obstinate ; and were found to 
include educational and judicial reform, as well as the 
compulsory development of Korean resources by mining, 
railway, and commercial concessions, in which an opening 
would be found for the profitable outlay of Japanese 
capital. Before July was over, Mr. 0-tori had abandoned 
all idea of co-operating with China, and had appointed 
on his own account a sort of Royal Commission, which sat 
daily in the Palace, and excogitated fresh revolutionary 
plans, for the due execution of which the old Tai Wen Kun 
was brought out from his retirement and temporarily 
invested with a kind of Regency. In this third edition 
of the Korean Charter, which extended to twenty-five articles, 
were further included the abolition of slavery and of the 
mourning-laws, the prohibition of imprisonment without trial, 
the disappearance of the Foreign Advisers, the establish- 
ment of an independent Korean era — or, in other words, 
the repudiation of Chinese suzerainty, and the despatch 
of duly accredited plenipotentiaries to Foreign Courts. 
The war then followed : and for a time the reforming 



AFTER THE WAR 375 

fever burned with a more subdued flame. With the early 
victories of Japan, however, it broke out with renewed 
activity, and before the close of the autumn a brand new 
constitution, printed and bound, and embodying several 
of the aforesaid changes, had been promulgated, and 
Count Inouye had been sent to Korea as Imperial Com- 
missioner, or practical Dictator, to carry it out. 

In the first month of the new year (1895) the King went 
in solemn procession (escorted by blue-coated 
Japanese policemen) to the Ancestral Temple, ./°'^ ^'^^" 
and there, before the ' Holy Spirits of the Im- Korean in- 
perial Ancestors,' declared the independence of 
jCoEfia, -and swore to the following fourteen articles of the 
amended constitution : 

1. Our dependence on China shall now be severed, and the 
foundations of our independence iirmly established. 

2. We will complete and make perfect the laws of the State. 

3. The King alone being the true ruler, must acquaint himself 
with all the affairs of the government, consulting with the various 
Ministers before deciding. The Queen and her relatives must not 
oppose these. 

4. The affairs of the Palace and the affairs of the Government 
must each be sej)arated from the other. 

5. The powers and limits of the Council of State and of the 
various Boards must be defined. 

6. Taxes must all be collected according to fixed laws, and these 
must not be exceeded. 

7. The expenses incurred in collecting taxes must all be reckoned 
and regulated by the proper yamen. 

8. The expenses of the Palace and of the various magistracies 
througliout the country must be diminished. 

9. The expenses of the Palace, as well as of the various magi- 
stracies throughout the country, must be calculated for one year, 
and these sliall form the basis for future expenditures. 

10. The regulations of the various magistrates must be reformed 
and perfected, and their limits and powers defined. 

11. Those students who possess ability must be sent abroad to 
study the arts and sciences. 



376 THE PROSPECT 

12. Military science must be properly studied, so as to make the 
foundations of the State secure. 

13. Laws for the punishment of crimes must be clearly defined and 
not exceeded, so that life and property will be afforded security. 

14. Those possessing ability must be appointed to office without 
regard to social station. 

If there was a considerable suspicion of vagueness about 

these high-sounding phrases, there was no corresponding 

dearth of precision in the steps simultaneously 

A rain of taken bv Count Inouye to provide the machinery 

reiorms. j j r j 

for running the new regime. The Min faction 
was degraded and exiled ; the existing Ministerial Depart- 
ments were overhauled or abolished ; and government by 
Cabinet was introduced. For the proper manipulation 
of this system suitable instruments were required. One 
Pak Yong Hio, who had been conspicuous among the con- 
spirators and assassins in the revolution of 1884, and who 
had since lived in retirement, under the name of Boku Eiko, 
in ^ Japa n, was invited back and appointed Minister of Home 
Affairs. A scarcely less notorious partisan, named So Kwang 
Pern, was made Minister of Justice. These agents loyally 
performed their part of the i)argain. Three times a week 
the Cabinet met, under the titular presidency of the King, 
but in the presence of Count Inouye, to pass resolutions, 
nominally proposed by Pak and So, but in reality dictated 
by the Dictator. Fresh Proclamations, Decrees, Constitu- 
tions, and Reforms, continued to rain like hailstones from 
heaven upon the devoted kingdom. Japanese advisers and 
instructors overflowed in the Court, the Army, the Law 
Courts, the Treasury and the Civil Service ; and the work of 
reconstruction proceeded with a rapidity that almost equalled 
the six days' wonder of the Mosaic Creation. 

In A^i-jl 1895_appeared an order, under the signature of 
Pak, whose zeal for regeneration knew no bounds, containing 



AFTER THE WAR 377 

no fewei* than eighty-eight new rules of reform. I will not 
here recapitulate the entire number, the majox'ity of which 
were still-born, but the principal fell under the following 
heads : — (1) Regulations against the abolished suzerainty of 
China, and in vindication of the national independence of 
Korea. — The honours paid to the Ming and Ching dynasties of 
China were to be discontinued. The era of Kuang Hsu was no 
longer to be employed in documents, but was to be replaced 
by the adoption of a Korean Calendar. Particulars of the 
service rendered by Japan in the recovery of the national 
independence were to be circulated broadcast throughout 
the country. Chinese literature was to be discouraged in 
the educational curriculuin ; and Koreans were to be taught 
the eunmun or native alphabetic script. (2) Regulations 
against social inequality and against the aristocracy. — There 
was to be no distinction between the yiu-im (including the 
nyang-pari) and the nyang-im or middle class. Laws were 
promulgated against extravagance, and against land robbery 
for graveyards. A number of I'ules dealt with the rank, 
etiquette, and commissions of officials, all tending to 
obliterate the distinction between nobles and people. (3) 
Regulations against superstitions and abuses : e.g. against 
sorcerers, witchcraft, and secret societies, against gambling 
and opium-smoking, against usury and compound interest, 
against abortion, suicide, and castration. (4) Judicial and 
administrative Reforms — relating to the methods of litiga- 
tion, the regulation of the corvee, and of grain-advances 
to the people, the registration of crops, labour, and produce, 
the repair of high-roads, and relief to widows and orphans. 
Amid these attempted i-eforms, many of which were ad- 
mirable in theory, and some of which would be excellent 
in practice, two appear to have been actuated by a more 
questionable wisdom : viz. a decree rescinding the old law 



378 THE PROSPECT 

by which the Korean monks (alleged to be the basest and 
most profligate of the population) were restricted to their 
monasteries and were prohibited from entering the towns ; 
and a decree legalising the offspring of concubinage, who, 
under the previous law, wei*e disqualified from holding 
office, and bore the civil brand of illegitimacy. These 
decrees were the manifest outcome of the Japanese views 
respectively of religion and marriage. 

Meanwhile the Japanese pushed their influence to a 
control or readjustment of almost every department of the 

State. The army was uniformed, drilled, and 
Suorad^ officered by Japan. The King's Body-guard 

exchanged the picturesque apparel, which I have 
before described, for ready-made trousers from Osaka. A 
new Japanese Post Office was started, with stamps printed in 
the United States. The telegraphs were taken over by 
Japan, and the overland line from Soul to Fusan was Avorked 
as part of the Japanese Government system, with Japanese 
forms, words, and stamps. An order was issued that all 
lands should be surveyed and measured according to 
Japanese standards, and that taxes should be assessed on 
the Japanese model. Round the Treaty Ports and in the 
neighbourhood of the projected railroads land was bought 
up by Japanese speculators or merchants. The Chinese 
were treated everywhere with indignity ; and persons ex- 
pressing anti-Japanese sentiments were ^seized and thrown 
into prison. The poor King, who at the outset of the war 
had been kept, dressed as a coolie, in the Japanese camp, 
but whom it was afterwards found politic to restore, was 
shorn of all power, state, and income. His establishment 
was run as part of the new Palace Department, who paid 
his servants and provided his food. Finally, to such an 
absurd pitch of bureaucratic triviality was the reforming 



AFTER THE WAR 379 

craze carried that the Koreans^ with a certain unconscious 
appositeness, were ordered to exchange their white garments 
for black (made in Japan) ^ and were obhged to smoke short 
pipes (also imported from Japan) instead of long ones. 
Utopias have as a rule been constructed by scholars in the 
harmless seclusion of their studies — a merciful dispensation 
for which the world cannot be too grateful ; but here was 
the imaginative doctrinaire^ with his pen in his hand^ and 
with a posse of soldiers and policemen behind him^ running 
riot through all the bureaux of state. 

It will strike the reader, as it struck all observers, that 
the methods above described were a somewhat curious way 
of striking off from Korea the fetters of a foreign 
dominion — the ostensible purpose of the war — thVoueen 
and of re-establishing her independence. This is 
the view that was also taken by the Koreans themselves. 
The horse can be taken up to the trough ; but no amount 
of persuasion in the world can compel him to drink if he 
is not thirsty. The Koreans had no appetite for reform. 
On the contrary, they abominated it in every shape ; still 
more, when it was offered to them by their hereditary enemies 
and recent oppressors, the Japanese. It is quite a mistake 
to suppose that, whatever the official expressions of Korean 
gratitude, anything but aversion was entertained by the 
emancipated themselves for their so-called deliverers. From 
the palace to the hovel, the new programme was met with 
an obdurate conspiracy of resistance that only a slow-witted 
and lethargic people could put forth. In the Court the old 
intrigues were rampant. The Queen plotted to get rid of 
Pak, and to restore her faithful Mins. Pak counterplotted 
to remove the Queen either to another world, or to some 

1 In the recent decline of Japanese influence this order has been rescinded, 
and the old national costume revived. 



380 THE PROSPECT 

more retired sphere of activity in this. The Queen heard 
of the conspiracy and was about to strike, when Pak got 
wind of her intentions, ran away, jumped on board a 
Japanese steamer, which was appropriately coasting about 
off the mouth of the river, and disappeared. He put as long 
a distance as he could between himself and his beloved 
country ; but in his distant retreat at Washington he must 
have felt an exquisite triumph upon learning that where he 
had failed the old Tai Wen Kun had succeeded, and that 
Her Majesty had ceased to trouble. 

The squalid drama of the Palace was reproduced in every 
grade and circle outside. Attempts were made to assassinate 

the philo-Japanese ministers, and to burn down 
resistance ^^^^i^' houses. They were obliged to move about 

escorted by Japanese policemen. The Cabinet 
itself was obstreperous, and overwhelmed Count Inouye 
with chronic resignations. It was easy enough to promul- 
gate and post up the reforms, but there was no money in 
the Treasury with which to carry them out ; and no officials 
willing to execute them. Extortion continued rampant in 
the provinces ; the new administrative machinery fell to 
pieces ; and the people refused to j^ay taxes. The Tong- 
haks, who had originally risen against the oppression of 
the native government, and had accordingly attracted the 
sympathy of the Japanese, now rose against their self- 
accredited saviours, and made common cause with their 
old tyrants against the new masters. Finally the Chinese, 
with that elasticity of temperament that is indifferent to 
defeat, began one by one to reappear upon the scene, as 

shopkeepers, hucksters, and merchants, and were 

received with enthusiasm. The result of eight 
months of reform in Korea was bewildered chaos and passion- 
ate resentment. 



AFTER THE WAR 381 

In the month of June the King, with a pathos in which 
the irony can scarcely have been unconscious, issued, or was 
ordered to issue, the following decree : 

' Since we set about the task of reforming the administration 
during summer last year, establishing the basis of independence, 
and swore to Oijr ancestors and proclaimed the fact to Our people, 
a year has elapsed, but no result has been attained. Old habits 
and manners still exist, and administrative orders have not been 
carried out. The high and low rauks do not know one another, 
and domestic and foreign troubles are brewing at the same time. 
The sufferings of the people and the dangers to the country are 
felt more keenly than ever. Is all this due to Our lack of virtues 
or to the neglect of Our servants of State } It being Our intention 
to stir up ourselves, daily see the servants of State, and to consult 
mutually on State affairs, so as to carry out judiciously and fairly 
measures conducive to the welfare of the nation, you, Ministers 
of State, shall strictly observe laws and enforce such measures as 
will benefit the people, so as to realise our hopes. Viceroys and 
Local Governors shall also carry out Our commands for reforming 
abuses and preventing disorders, so as to let Our subjects gratefully 
submit to us, respect laws, be happy in the enjoyment of their 

lives and peaceful avocations, and also to let them know that the 

reform measures are for their own good. ' 

In fairness to Count, Tnou^, who is a man of high char- 
acter and great ability, it should be borne in mind that he 
had been charged with a task that was beyond 
human capacity to execute, and which a little Inouye's 
greater knowledge of the conditions of the pro- ession. 

blem would have saved Japan from the mistake of ever 
committmg to him. With how sick a heart he discharged 
his thankless duties, and with what despondency he re- 
garded the empty result, was obvious when in the course 
of a short holiday in Japan he unburdened his mind, not 
merely to his official superiors, but to his countrymen at 
large, through the medium of the press. In an interview 
with th.Q Nichi Nichi Shimbun in July 1895, he practically 



382 THE PROSPECT 

admitted the hopelessness of his task, and plaintively re- 
minded the Japanese that Korea was now (owing to their 
exertions) not a protected but an independent State ; that it 
was not a gold-mine from which Japanese alone had the 
right to extract nuggets ; but that any privilege demanded 
by them must, under the most-favoured-nation clause of 
the Treaties, equally be conceded to the subjects of other 
Powers. And then with a courage that bespoke true states- 
manship, he proceeded to read his countrymen a lecture, 
and to fit on to their heads the cap of self-incurred responsi- 
bility. The Japanese in Korea, he said, were selfish, and 
looked only to their individual gains. They were violent 
and overbearing in manner to the Koreans, using their fists 
without provocation, knocking down the natives and cutting 
them about with swords. They displayed a luxury and a 
swagger that were oifensive to the Koreans. Moreover, 
they were guilty of commercial dishonesty, jeopardising 
their trade and destroying confidence by the importation 
of spurious manufactures. Summing up in words, which 
relieve me from the task of passing any personal verdict, he 
said : ' As the Japanese representative I am bound to pro- 
tect the interests of my fellow countrymen in Korea. But 
unless they reform themselves, no protection will be of any 
use to them.' 

Since this interesting admission that it is not so much 
Korea, as Japan in Korea, that needs reforming, the situa- 
tion has not improved, but has grown steadily 

Japanese worse. The outbreak has occurred in which the 

tailure. 

Queen lost her life ; and the lesson which first- 
hand experience has burned into the mind of Count Inouye 
is being gradually realised by his countrymen. The reform 
of Korea is like the task of Sisyphus. Pushed up to the top 
with strained muscles and sweating limbs, the relentless 



AFTER THE WAR 383 

stone bumps and ci'ashes down again to the bottom. The 
Japanese now know that when, in hght-heavted enthusiasm 
for reform, they engaged to civilise Korea, the undertaking 
was more than they bargained for, and was beyond their 
strength. There are signs that the venture will not be 
much longer pursued. Already the Japanese Governnaent 
has issued an official assurance to the Powers in the follow- 
ing terms : 

'The Japanese troops now stationed in Korea are to ensure 
tranquillity, to protect our Legation, Consulates, and subjects, 
and also to maintain the indispensable lines of communication 
with our army, which is still in the occupation of the Liao-tung 
Peninsula. The necessity of keeping such troops in Korea will, 
however, cease at the same time as the Liao-tung Peninsula is 
evacuated. [This has since been begun.] The Japanese Govern- 
ment hope that the Korean Government, having entered upon the 
work of reforms, may succeed in maintaining order and in pro- 
tecting foreigners, even though our ti'oops withdraw. Japan, ' 
having no other designs, does not desire to prolong the mainten- 
ance of Japanese troops in Korea, and would be extremely grati- 
fied if relieved of such an obligation. In our relations with Korea 
our policy is one of non-interference. We will gladly share 
equally with other powers the same line of action.' 

It is safe to predict that the Japanese reform of Korea, 
without Japanese troops to sustain it, will be snuffed 
out like a taper in the wind. Within six months there 
will not be a trace of it left; and the last state of 
the wretched little kingdom will be worse than the first. 
Perhaps people will then be able to see why some of 
those who, like myself, had been in the country, argued 
so strongly for the maintenance of the stixtus quo, and, in 
the interest of Korea herself, viewed with such uncon- 
querable suspicion the Greek gift of an impossible reform. 
Had Japan been at liberty to annex the peninsula, and to 
treat it, with her own instruments and in her own way, she 



384 THE PROSPECT 

might in time have evolved a new order out of the existing 
chaos. But this she has been prevented from doing by her 
own pledges, and by the fear of others. She has cut the 
single cable by which the crazy little ship rode precariously 
at anchor in the Far Eastern roadstead ; and she has left it to 
drift, without helmsman and without rudder, upon the stormy 
waters. 

That the recent change in the attitude of Japan has been 
due to other causes than a tardy recognition of the hope- 

_,, „ lessness of the struggle will be obvious to those 

The Power °^ 

in the back- who have followed events on the wider inter- 
national stage. To fail in Korea, and at the 
same time only to rear up a more menacing danger outside, 
would indeed be a disastrous return to Japan for her victory 
in the war. There is a neighbouring Power, whose interest 
in Korea has already been described, and who has been 
watching events with a not wholly unselfish interest. That 
power could not brook a Japanned Korea, and has let it 
clearly be known that independence, and not a mere change 
of protectorates, must be the result, as it was the originally 
professed object, of the campaign. I hope, in the light of 
what has happened, that I may be pardoned for quoting 
the terms of a forecast, upon which I ventured in August 
I894, before the war had begun, in a letter to the Times : 

' There is one contingency in which Russia might be tempted out 
of her philosophic and calcvilating calm ; and that is, the victory of 
Japan and the substitution upon her Tiumen River boundary of the 
influence of a young and militant power for the less aggressive and 
more reliable Conservatism of China. I doubt if Russia would at 
all welcome Japanese fleets in Gensan and Port Lazareff", or a 
Korean army reorganised by Japanese officers in the occupation of 
posts along the northern frontier. Japan must therefore contem- 
plate this additional danger, as the probable price of victory, that 
she may drive China and Russia into each other's arms, and may 
only discomfit her ancient adversary at the expense of raising up a 



AFTER THE WAR 385 

far more formidable modern one in his place. And equally^, if it is 
not to the interest of Russia to have in too close proximity to her- 
self the impetuous Chauvinism of Japan^ it is not to the interest of 
Japan to array against her expanding ambitions the premature 
hostility of Russia. The great future which she anticipates for her- 
self may possibly not suffer^ and will clearly^ in her own judgment, 
be confirmed by a war with China. It would be irretrievably 
compromised if-she provoked a vastly more dangerous foe. 

How the new issue, thus raised, is likely to affect the 
fortunes of Korea primarily, and of the Far East in general, 
the time has not yet come to discuss. Japan has ousted 
China and is now retiring, for fear of being ousted herself. 
Meanwhile Korea is the chief sufferer at the hands of her 
many friends. She supplies the international football that 
is kicked about between the rival goal-posts of Vladivostok 
and Nagasaki. Poor forlorn and pathetic victim ! Last of 
the nations and most miserable of peoples ! With the 
achievement of independence her tragic vicissitudes have 
only entered upon a new phase. It will not be long before 
we hear of her again. 

There remains the question of the effect that has been 
produced upon the present, and the impetus that may be 
given to the future of Japan, by the victorious 
issue of the war. That it has exhilarated the pride fapan°'^ 
and augmented the confidence of her people was 
only to be expected. Already sanguine of the efficiency 
of her naval and military resources, she has seen her ancient 
enemy collapse at the first contact with her arms. Ambitious 
of an equal, if not a controlling, voice in the destinies of 
Farther Asia, she has with little difficulty dethroned from 
her traditional hegemony the age-long arbiter of the remote 
East. She has taught her Western tutors the unsuspected 
lesson, that she has not merely absorbed, but has, in some 
respects, improved upon their teaching. It would be absurd 

2 B 



386 THE PROSPECT 

to deny to Japan the legitimate satisfaction of so remarkable 
a triumph. For my own part I am less disposed to cavil at 
the sometimes extravagant heights of self-congratulation to 
which her flattered vanity has soared^ than I am to admire 
the temperate self-restraint with which her statesmen, in 
the hour of victory, consented to forgo some of its most 
cherished spoils, because they realised that Japan had already 
undergone no ordinary strain, and because they feared to 
compromise that for which they had ventured so much. If 
the Japanese Government was blamed by many for the 
precipitancy with which it originally rushed into the war, it 
may claim to have expiated the offence by the statesmanlike 
control which it has displayed since its termination. 

I have already pointed out that some discount must be 
made from the apparent brilliancy of the military victory of 

Japan owing to the inexpressible debility of her 
of As"^^*^ foe. If I do not join in the general chorus of 

panegyric on this point, still less can I follow the 
reasoning of that cultivated organ of opinion in England 
which almost from the issue of the first engagement in this 
war proclaimed that '^the victory of Japan involved the inde- 
pendence of Asia,' ' and that it sounded the death-knell of 
the European supremacy in that continent, upon which the 
political and commercial symptoms of the modern world, to 
a great extent, depend.' There is nothing, we have been 
told by the same authority, to prevent Japan from stripping 
Spain, Holland, and Portugal of all their Asiatic possessions. 
Nay, stimulated by this glorious example, even China may 
tardily reassert herself, and recover or wrest from Great 
Britain Siam, Nepaul, and Hyderabad. These speculations 
appear to me to be tainted by the same academic detachment 
from the world of fact as are those, which I shall presently 
discuss, of the late Mr. Pearson. They could not have 



AFTER THE WAR 387 

emanated from any critic who had been upon the spot. 
Because Japan has beaten China, it does not in the least 
follow that she could beat any single European Power (of 
those with whom she might conceivably come into collision), 
much less any combination of a larger number. Because she 
has acquired F.ormosa, it by no means follows that she can 
seize -or that she aspires to seize the Philippines or Java. 
Indeed, almost her first act after the war was to give to Spain "^§1 
a formal pledge of abstention from any interference in the 
Spanish Seas. In the victory of a young and energetic and 
well-knit Asiatic power over the notorious invalid of the Far- 
Eastern world, why should Europe read her own death- 
sentence in that continent ? Nay, a man has but to go to 
Japan itself to leai*n the truth of Count Inouye's impressive 
warning to his own countrymen that a good deal of self- 
reform will be required before Japan can take in hand the 
readjustment of the fortunes of others. 

These reflections, however, do not preclude the certainty, 
as a result of the war, of a great increase, in another respect, 
in the power of Japan. If she does not thereby 

became a menace to the political influence of '-^°J"'^^r- 

^ cial and 

Evu'ope in Asia, she may and probably will become industrial 
a formidable antagonist to British and German 
trade. Her industrial and mercantile future will receive a 
decided impetus from this rise in her fortunes. Endowed 
not merely with an intelligent and enterprising people, but 
with ample riches, and free from the harassing responsibilities 
of continental engagements or colonial possessions, there is 
scarcely any limit that need be set, within a given area, to the 
commercial expansion of Japan. Every year she becomes 
more self-providing and less dependent vipon others. §ix__ 
years ago she imported -6.7__per cent, of her requirements, ^ii^ 
Shejiow only imports 25 per cent. She has instructed her- 



388 THE PROSPECT 

self so efficaciously that she can now all but dispense with 
outside tuition. Her railways were built and run-in the 
first place, by foreigners. There is at present not a shigle 
alj_eii employed upon them. In her cotton mills, where the 
produce of over half-a-million spindles is Qhallenging the 
command of the Far-Eastern market, there is a similarly 
notable absence. In the recent war her soldiers fought with 
rifles patented and manufactured, not in Europe, but in 
Japan. Every cartridge, every shot and shell, nay, even 
the Maxim guns employed, were of Japanese origin. Less 
than half-a-dozen Europeans are now engaged in the 
arsenals. When I first visited Japan in 1887, she 
possessed but a few lines of steamboats, and those for the 
most part, if not entirely, captained and engineered by 
Englishmen and Scotchmen. She has now several first- 
rate lines of steamers, subsidised by the Government, 
running to every port in the Far East, and wholly officered 
by natives. Her proximity to the immense and only half- 
developed market of China, the skill of her artificers, the 
low rate of wages and the long hours for which they are 
content to work, give her an advantage with which no 
European rival can cope. She has a currency which is_not 
fettered by international or imperial exigencies, but which 
she can regulate to suit her own fiscal needs. I do not 
mean to say that there is not another side to the picture, or, 
if the trade of Europe meets with a set-back in these 
respects, that there are not other channels of recuperation 
or untapped markets still waiting to be conquered. Japan 
herself must, for a long time at any rate, be dependent upon 
Europe for a good deal of the raw material which she 
proposes to work up. A programme of shipbuilding or of 
railway construction, or public works, or factories ^nd-Jtnills, 
cannot be carried out without an appeal to European 



AFTER THE WAR 389 

resource and invention. For a while these exchanges may 
constitute an equipoise. But in the long run Japan may 
expect to forge ahead of her rivals in the China Seas ; and^ 
whatever may have then become of the political balance of 
power^ she will have laid a hand upon the commercial scales 
that will cause many a moment of disquiet in the counting- 
houses of the West. In this brilliant and lucrative career, 
the war with China, which was undertaken with far different 
objects, may one day be reckoned as marking a very con- 
spicuous stage. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 

Prudens futuri temporis exitum 
Caliginosa nocte premit Deus, 
Ridetque si mortalis ultra 

Fas trepidat. Quod adest, memento 
Componere sequus. 

Horace : Carm, iii. 29. 

In the two remaining chapters I propose briefly to sum up 
the conclusions to which I have endeavoured to lead the 

readers of this book, and, in so far as they 
Summary, appear to justify so venturesome an enterprise, 

to cast the horoscope of the future. I desire 
also to indicate the part that is now being played, or is 
likely hereafter to be played, on the majestic stage to 
^ which I have invited attention, by the Government and 
^ the citizens of my own country. In this first portion of 
my study of the kingdoms of the Far East I have dealt 
with three States alone — Japan, Korea, and China. Of 
these, Japan and China are powerful Empires (though in 
very different senses of the term) whose orbit in the 
firmament of nations may claim a certain fixity, and whose 
national existence, in spite of the fact that their political 
boundaries are liable to modification, is not likely at any 
time to be submerged. Korea, on the contrary, belongs 
to a class of States of whom future fixity is the last 
attribute to be predicated, and before whom an anxious 
course of vicissitudes, in no degree diminished by the issue 

390 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 391 

of the recent conflict^ opens. Though nominally inde- 
pendent, her territories are still occupied and will probably 
again be overrun by the armies of one or another of her 
jealous neighbours. She is too feeble and too corrupt to 
stand alone. They have successfully interfered to prevent 
her from leaning upon China. Will Japan be content to 
let her lean upon Russia ? Will Russia acquiesce in her 
leaning upon Japan ? The main result of the war has 
been to leave Korea, in an even greater degree than it 
found her, the powder-magazine of the Far East. 

The superficial features of Japanese character and politics 
are known to all. Her nimble-witted and light-hearted 
people, the romantic environment of her past, 
and the astonishing rapidity with which she is KS ^^"^^ 
assimilating all that the West has to teach her, 
have been praised with an indiscriminate prodigality that 
has already begun to pall, and has not been without its 
bad effects upon herself. I conceive that no worse service 
could have been rendered to Japan than the publication of 
the last work in English which has been dedicated to her 
charms by a well-known English writer and poet. These 
overloaded encomiums not merely cloy the palate ; they 
foster a growing vanity against which the Japanese require 
to be upon their guard, and which may, unless abated, 
both provoke and deserve the chastisement of some smart 
rebuff. Japan is sure enough of a distinguished and even 
brilliant future, without being told that she has exhausted 
the sum of all human excellences in the present. More- 
over, a time of internal fermentation lies before her in 
the attempt to graft a purely democratic product on to a 
stem from which the feudal sap has not been entirely 
expunged, and to reconcile the widest aspirations of con- 
stitutional liberty with the relics of a theocratic regime. 



392 THE PROSPECT 

This struggle will I'equire the fullest measure of sense and 
self-control, and may, perhaps, not be tided over without 
crisis and suffering. From such a trial the patriotism of 
her people and the liberal sentiments of her statesmen are 
capable of bringing her forth, if not unscarred, at least 
with vitality unexhausted ; and that in the course of the 
next quarter of a century she will take her place on a 
level of technical equality with the great Powers of the 
West may be accepted as certain. The Revision of the 
Treaties, effected just as these pages originally passed into 
the printer's hands, will free her from all artificial trammels, 
and while ratifying, will also test her right to international 
autonomy. 

Japan was frequently blamed before the war for squander- 
ing too much money upon armaments, military and naval, 
and for neglecting the requirements of industrial 
Britain of ^^^^ commercial expansion. It is true that her 

the Far resources are capable of very considerable de- 
East. ^ -^ ^ 

velopment, and that a prudent finance, already 

in part inaugurated, will greatly increase both the numbers 

and the prosperity of her people. But the critics to whom 

I allude had lost sight of the part which Japan aspires to 

play in the Far East, and to which her policy of expenditure 

and organisation has been strictly subordinated. That 

part is determined by her geographical situation. Placed 

at a maritime coign of vantage upon the flank of Asia^ 

precisely analogous to that occupied by Great Britain on 

the flank of Europe, exercising a powerful influence over 

the adjoining continent, but not necessarily involved in its 

responsibilities, she sets before herself the supreme ambition 

of becoming, on a smaller scale, the Britain of the Far East. 

By ntleans of an army strong enough to defend our shores, 

,and to render invasion unlikely, and still more of a navy 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 393 

sufficiently powerful to sweep the seas, she sees that 
England has retained~tbat^unique and commanding position 
in the West which was won" for us by the industry and 
force of character of our people, by the minei'al wealth of 
these islands, by the stability of our Government, and by 
the colonising geniils of our sons. By similar methods 
Japan hopes to arrive at a more modest edition of the 
same result in the East. Like the English, her people 
are stubborn fighters and born sailors. If she can but 
intimidate any would-be enemy from attempting a landing 
upon her shores, and can fly an unchallenged flag over the 
surrounding waters, while from her own resources she 
provides occupation, sustenance, clothing, and wages for 
her people, she will fulfil her role in the international 
politics of the future. 

And how important a one this may be, those who con- 
sider, her position in relation both to the Pacific Ocean and 
to the neighbouring mainland of Asia, in the light that is 
cast upon it by the ambition of rival Powers, will easily be 
able to judge. The opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway 
and Trans-Pacific route on the eastern side ; the ultimate 
completion of the Nicaragua or some other inter-oceanic 
Canal farther to the south ; the maritime ambitions of 
Russia, already dissatisfied with her base at Vladivostok and 
thirsting for a Pacific commerce and a Pacific armament ; the 
impetus that will be lent to these desires and the revolution 
that will be produced in Northern Asia by the Siberian Rail- 
way ; the emulous zeal with which foreign Powers, England, 
America, France, and Germany, are snapping up the isles and 
islets of Oceania ; the connection (certain to increase as time 
advances) between Japan and the British Colonies of the 
Australasian group — may in the course of the coming century 
develop a Pacific Question, the existence of which is now 



S94 THE PROSPECT 

not so much as suspected, and the outhnes of which can at 
present be only dimly foreseen. In the solution of such a 
question Japan, by virtue of her situation, should be capable 
of playing a considerable part. That she should be free to 
do so, and should develop the requisite moral force and 
strength (in both of which she is at present lacking), it is 
necessary — as I wrote before the war, and see no reason now 
for altering — that she should hold herself aloof from foreign 
entanglements, and, above all, that she should not come 
into sustained or renewed collision with her old and heredi- 
tary antagonist, China. She has fought and conquered 
China ; has settled to her own satisfaction and in her own 
interest the feud of centm-ies ; has demonstrated her military 
and naval superiority and the reabty of her Western tuition ; 
has rounded off her island-dominion by the captin-e of 
Formosa ; and has, wisely for herself, been persuaded to 
abandon those acquisitions on the Asiatic mainland, which, 
though they would have placed Peking perpetually at her 
mercy, would yet have left her a Continental Power, subject 
to all the harassing and even perilous responsibilities, that, in 
Asia not less than in Europe, attach to that position. She can 
now afford to take a wider and more statesmanlike outlook. 
That the true policy for Japan, ignoring tradition and 
history and burying national antipathies, is a friendly under- 
standing with China, interested like herself in keeping at 
aJistance the single common peril — namely, the advance of 
the Muscovite from the north — appears to me self-evident, 
and is, I believe, appreciated by her own statesmen. Such 
a solidarity, without taking the form of an off'ensive and 
defensive alliance, would be strong enough to preserve the 
balance of power in the Far East and to prepare the way 
by which Japan may attain to that still higher place which 
she yearns to fill among the nations of the world. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 395 

The future of China is a problem the very inverse of that 

involved in the future of Japan. The one is a country 

intoxicated with the modern spirit, and requiring 

above all things the stamina to iniderstand the t,". "^^ 
° China. 

shock of too sudden an upheaval of ancient ideas 
and plunge into the unknown. The other is a country 
stupefied with the pride of the past, and standing in need 
of the very impulse to which its neighbour too incontinently 
yields. Japan is eager to bury the past; China worships 
its embalmed and still life-like corpse. Japan wants to be 
reformed out of all likeness to herself. China declines to 
be reformed at all. She is a monstrous but mighty 
anachronism, defiantly planted on the fringe of a world to 
whose contact she is indifi^erent and whose influence she 
abhors; much as the stones of Solomon's Temple look down 
upon an alley in modern Jerusalem, or as the Column of 
Trajan rears its head in the heart of nineteenth century 
Rome. 

In the foregoing pages I have depicted in their own 
country and capital the characteristics of this unlovely but 
admirable people. But I am not sure that they 
are not even more wonderful when seen outside Chinese 
their native land. At Hongkong, Hanoi, Cholen, ^^ ^^'^°^' 
Singapore, Penang, Bangkok, as also at Rangoon and Man- 
dalay on the one side, and at Batavia and Manila on the 
other, they have established great communities, living 
contentedly under alien laws, and drawing into their fingers 
the reins of a multiform and lucrative commerce. Not 
merely do they absorb and frequently monopolise the retail 
trades, but they farm the State monopolies ; they run big 
steamships and own immense mills ; they float companies 
with large capital; they own and work productive mines. 
Under British protection 200,000 of them live serenely in 



396 THE PROSPECT 

the city of Hongkong, and 180,000 on the island of Singa- 
pore. In the adjoining native State of Jahore, 210,000 out 
of a total population of 300,000 are Chinese. Throughout 
the Malay States they far outnumber the Malays. In Siam 
there are said to be between two and three millions of the 
Yellow Race, or nearly one-third of the entire population. 
Freed froni the exactions and inquisition of their own 
Government, they develop on foreign soil, and for the 
edification of foreign commerce, the very qualities which, if 
applied to the regeneration of their own country, might 
make her once again the mistress of the Eastern world. 

It is sometimes questioned whether this ever-increasing 
flood of Chinese emigration may not constitute an viltimate 

danger to the countries which it overruns, and 
, ^ r whether the invasion of the hordes of Jinghiz 
Chinese re- Khan is not capable of a milder twentieth-century 

reproduction. These apprehensions have recently 
received a fresh and formidable impetus from the encourage- 
ment given to them in the scholarly and remarkable work of 
the late Mr. Pearson.^ Therein, supported by much learning, 
confirmed by ingenious analogies, and rendered attractive by 
a luminous and agreeable style, may be found developed at 
length the dismal thesis that the future of Eastern Asia, if 
not of parts of Central Asia also, is not for the White but 
for the Yellow Race ; and that neither Great Britain, nor 
France, nor Russia, but China, is the Power into whose hands 
will pass the predestined sceptre of the Far East, With 
both the premises and the conclusions of Mr. Pearson's 
fascinating but melancholy argument I find myself in total 
disagreement. Before explaining, however, the points and 
grounds of difference between us, let m'e summarise Mr. 
Pearsonla^rqpositions as far as possible in his own words. 
1 National Life and Character : a Forecast, by C. H. Pearson. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 397 

With the view of sustaining his main and ultimate induc- 
tion^ Mr. Pearson first marshals the evidences, as he 
conceives them to be, of the power and vitality of 

China. He points to her recovery of the revolted ^', ^^^' 
" •' son s argu- 

province of Chinese Turkestan or Kashgaria frona ments in 
Yakub Beg in 1874-87; he says she dominates 
Korea ; and he reminds us that she succeeded in finally 
stamping out the Mohammedan rebellion in Yunnan. These 
are the testimonies to her internal organisation and strength. 
Casting his eyes over a wider range, he next observes the 
phenomena to which I have already alluded. He sees 
Chinamen flooding Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, begin- 
ning to settle in Borneo and Sumatra, encroaching upon the 
labour markets of California and Australia, and already 
supplanting the natives in Hawaii and other islands of the 
Pacific. He draws attention to the flexibility and versatility 
of the Chinese character, to their easy adaptation to extremes 
of climate, to their excellence as labourers, their industry as 
merchants, and their docility as colonists. Finally, he 
contemplates the acquisition by the Power, thus endowed by 
nature, of the resources of modern invention, of a network 
of railways connecting the great cities of the Empire Avith 
each other and with adjoining countries, of telegraphs and 
steamers, of the use of foreign capital, of large armies drilled 
and equipped on the European model, of artillery and 
scientific implements of war, and, above all, the leadership 
of a really great man. Nay, intoxicated by the enchantment 
of the picture, he is actually willing to dispense with the 
last-named advantage : — 

'^The Chinese do not need even the accident of a man of g-enius 
to develop their magnificent future. Ordinary statesmanship, 
adopting the improvements of Europe, without offending the 
custom^ and prejudices of the people, may make them a State 



398 THE PROSPECT 

which no Power in Europe will dare to disi-egard ; with an army 
which could march by fixed stages across Asia^, and a fleet which 
could hold its own against any that the strongest of European 
Powei's could afford to keep permanently in Chinese waters.'^ 

Such being the grounds of his confidence in the future of 

China, Mr, Pearson next proceeds to indicate what in his 

opinion she may be expected to do. ' On three 

new gj(Jes of her lie countries that she may easily seize, 

march •' •' ' 

of the over which very often she has some old claim, and 
in the climate of which her people can live. It is 
more than probable that some of these will pass under 
Chinese rule.' Borneo will certainly be hers. 'Expansion 
towards the south and south-west seems most probable ; but 
she is not debarred either towards the north and west.' 
Nepal might be wrested from England, parts of Turkestan 
from Russia, and the Amur Province from the same Power. 
The danger of this military advance would be still further 
accentuated if China became a Mohammedan Power. 

Finally Mr. Pearson sums up his presentment of the triple 

r A c future that awaits his protege, as a colonising 

the future. Power, a military Power, and a trading Power, 

and the corresponding decline that threatens the Caucasian 

stock, in the following language : — 

■^On the whole, it seems difficult to doubt that the black and 
yellow belt, which always encircles the globe between the Tropics, 
will extend its area and deepen its colour with time. The work of 
the white man in these latitudes is only to introduce order and an 
acquaintance with the best industrial methods of the West. The 
countries belong to their autochthonous races ; and these, though 
they may in parts accept the white man as a conqueror and 
organiser, will gradually become too strong and unwieldy for him 
to control ; or, if they retain him, will do it only with the condition 
that he assimilates himself to the inferior race. . . . The citizens 
of the black and yellow races will then be taken up into the social 

1 National Character, p. 112. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 399 

relations of the white races, will throng the English turf or the 
salons of Paris, and will be admitted to iutermai-riage. . . . Does 
any one doubt that the day is at hand when China will have cheap 
fuel from her coal-mines, cheaj) transport by railways and steamers, 
and will have founded technical schools to develop her industries ? 
Whenever that day comes, she may wrest the control of the world's 
markets, especially throughout Asia, from England and Germany. 
... A hundred years hence, when the Chinese, Hindus, and 
negroes, who are now as 2 to 1 to the higher races, shall be as 3 
to 1 ; when they have boriio-wed the science of Europe and developed 
their still virgin worlds, the pressure of their competition upon the 
white man will be irresistible. He will be driven from every 
neutral market, and forced to confine himself within his own. . . . 
With civilisation equally diffused, the most populous country 
must ultimately be the most powei'ful ; and the preponderance of 
China over any rival — even over the United States of America — is 
likely to be overwhelming.' 

It will be conceded that Mr. Pearson has not erred on the 

side of timidity in this forecast, at once so complimentary to 

China and so lugubrious for ourselves, and that 

the colours of his palette are applied with no ^-^bjection 
^ ^^ CI unoccu- 

hesitating or piecemeal brush. One objection pied area 

alone he admits, and that in order to refute it. 
The theory of continued Chinese expansion outside China 
pi'oper might seem to be qualified by the enormous un- 
occupied area at her disposal within. Equivalent in size to 
twenty-two, or, as others say, to twenty-six Englands, she 
could maintain a population of 650,000,000 or 750,000,000 ; 
i.e. she might increase for fifty years before requiring relief 
by exodus. In fact, from her superior fertility, China could 
support more inhabitants than England to the square mile, 
and might duplicate her numbers before she needed to 
trouble her neighbours. To which considerations might be 
added the conservative genius of Chinese government, and 
the discouragement offered to native emigration. This line 
of reasoning Mr. Pearson answers by pointing out that 



400 THE PROSPECT 

though the Taiping Rebellion forty years ago,, which lasted 

for fourteen years^ cost China from twenty to fifty million 

liyeSj and though between 1842 and 1882 the nation is" cal- 

culated to have decreased by thirty millions^ yet it was 

during this very period that she continued to jxuir her 

colonists into Siam, Malaysia^ the Straits Settlements, 

America^ PerUj and Australia. 

I have now summed up, I hope with fairness, Mr. Pearson's 

argument, and will proceed to show why, in my opinion, it 

is for the most part unsound. I am conscious, of 

for'dis- course, of the extreme fallibility of any individual 

puting Mr. speculations as to the future, and am quite pre- 
Pearson. 

pared to believed that a priori my own forecast is 

more likely to be invalidated than one proceeding from so 
accomplished a scholar as Mr. Pearson. But if the latter 
'^^ > jJjT writer had, as I believe, never been in China, but only 
studied the Chinese question from the academic djstjance of 
an Australian study ; and if, further, I can show his premises 
to be of questionable validity and authority, there will be 
some reason for regarding his conclusions with suspicion ; 
the more so that they are, to the best of my knowledge, 
shared by no contemporary authority who either knows or 
has resided in China itself. 

I will follow Mr. Pearson's reasoning in the order in which 
he has himself displayed it, premising that much of it has 
.. , already been answered in anticipation in the pages 
successes of this work. The suppression by China of the 
rebellions in Kashgar and Yunnan justifies no such 
complimentary inference as Mr. Pearson has drawn. The 
former depended only upon the personality of a single in- 
dividual, Yakub Beg, appealing to religious fanaticism and 
taking advantage of the military weakness of China at a 
distance of 3500 miles from her base. With the removal by 




THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 401 

poison of the usurper, the movement, almost without fight- 
ing, collapsed. Similarly the Taiping and Mohammedan 
rebellions, so far from testifying to the might of China, 
demonstrated the full measure of her weakness ; for the 
resources of the Empire were strained almost to breaking 
point to cope with the double peril, which not less than 
twenty-five years of fighting were required to suppress. My 
account of the situation in Korea will have shown that, how- 
ever creditable to the astuteness of the suzerain Power, 
China's authority there, even before the war, could scarcely 
be cited as an evidence of material or military strength. 
Now that it has ceased altogether to exist, Mr. Pearson loses 
the support of'the Korean prop of his argument, the weight 
of which, gfuch as it is, must be transferred to the opposite 
scale, 

I next turn to the argument based upon the colonising 
genius of China, as illustrated in the maritime countries and 
islands of the Far East, as well as in more distant „, 
lands possessing a frontage on the Pacific Ocean, Colonial 
It is assumed that the steady infiltration of 
Chinese emigrants into these regions, and the control of the 
labour market which they so rapidly acquire, are the in- 
evitable precursors of a complete political and commercial 
domination. These anticipations I do not share. Chinese 
emigration I believe to be dictated by the animal interests 
of self-maintenance, and by the craving of masculine labour 
to find an outlet, which is denied to it by the selfish 
and rapacious tyranny of the Chinese administrative and 
economic system at home ; ^ and to be divorced from any 

1 Since writing these words I have met with a curious confirnaation of their 
accuracj^ in the reiJort of a Chinese official, who was sent by his Government 
as Consul-General to Singapore in 1893, to report upon the reasons which 
induced so many thousand Chinamen to voluntarily expatriate themselves 
under foreign dominion. He wrote: I 'When asked why they do not take 

2 C 



402 THE PROSPECT 

ulterior intent of conquest or dominion. The Marquis 
Tseng, in his famous article/ wrote, or was made to write, 
as follows : — 

' The Chinese have never been an aggressive race. History 
shows them to have always been a peaceful people, and there is no 
reason why tliey should be otherwise in the future. China has 
none of that land-hunger so characteristic of other nations, and, 
contrary to what is generally believed in Europe, she is under no 
necessity of finding in other lands an outlet for a surplus pojiula- 
tion. Considerable numbers of Chinese have at different times 
been forced to leave their homes, and push their fortunes in Cuba, 
Peru, the United States, and the British Colonies ; but this must 
be imputed rather to the poverty and ruin in which they were 

the opportunity of returning and settling in their native land, their knitted 
brows and frowning countenances might be observed, and the following com- 
plaints were generally made : They said that they feared the so-called 
"investigations" of their local mandarins; the oppression of the yanien- 
underlings ; and the extortions of their clansmen and neighbours, instances 
of which could be given without number. They comi3lained that those who 
happened to return home had been maliciously accused as pirates and rob- 
bers ; as purchasers of contraband in arms and ammunition in order to suj)ply 
sea pirates ; and as buyers and kidnai^pers of coolie slaves for the ]Durpose of 
supj)lying foreign ruffians. Some of them had had their baggage and belong- 
ings — the savings of years — forcibly taken away from them and jjartitioned 
amongst local ruffians ; and some had had their houses pulled down and were 
forbidden to build on the land of their buying. Alone and unj^rotected, 
considered to be strangers and aliens amongst their own kindred, to whom 
could they apply for heliJ, surrounded as they were on all sides by rapacious 
hawks, of high and low degree ? Hence, having taken a lesson from experi- 
ence, none of the wealthier Chinese in foreign countries cared to return to 
the land of their ancestors. Those who did go to China to trade or travel, 
went either as British or Dutch subjects, under the protection of a foreign 
Government.' I A further confirmation of the same opinion is furnished hj a 
recent lecture 'of a well-known Dutch Professor, Dr. de Groot, of Leyden, 
whose countrymen in the East Indies appear to have been seized with a 
similar panic to Mr. Pearson. He argues in rep)ly that these fears are either 
baseless or grossly exaggerated, and must be traced in the main to jjalpable 
ignorance regarding the chief causes of Chinese emigration, which he limits 
to the two provinces of Kuangtung and Fukien. These causes he describes 
as the absence of irrigation and dearth of rain, the primitive condition of 
agriculture, the discou.ragement and non-existence of native industries, the 
superabundance of day-labourers, and the low rate of wages. 

1 'China, the Sleep and the Awakening.' Asiatic Quarterly Review, 
January 1887. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 403 

iuvolved by the Taiping and Mohammedan rebellions, than to the 
difficulty of finding the means of subsistence under ordinary con- 
ditions.^ In her wide dominions there is room and to spare for all 
her teeming population. What China wants is not emigration, but 
a proper organisation for the equable distribution of the population. 
In China proper much land has gone out of cultivation, whilst in 
Manchuria, Mongolia, and Chinese Turkestan there are immense 
tracts of country which have never felt the touch of the husband- 
man. ' 

This reasoning is for the most part true, though it is to 
be regretted that neither the Marquis Tseng nor any other 
Chinese statesman seems to have persuaded his Government 
to deduce from it the only practical lesson, viz. that public 
works in China would provide that very occupation and 
outlet for lack of which expatriation is forced upon her 
citizens. 

An examination of the Chinese emigrant communities in 

British, French, Dutch, or Spanish territories, leads to the 

same conclusion as to their character and objects. _, 

•' Character 

For, on the one hand, the Chinese are by nature of Chinese 

tractable, orderly, and content to be governed. °^'^ ^' 
They fully appreciate the benefits of a just and organised 
administration. In a petition which was being signed while 
I was in Singapore, praying for a continuation of the term 
of office of the retiring Governor, Sir Cecil Smith, the 
Chinese population of the colony mentioned, among other 
grounds of his popularity and of their gratitude, his suppres- 
sion a few years before of the Chinese Secret Societies, which 
were as much a curse to themselves as they were a danger 
to others. On the other hand, the Chinese population in 
the above-mentioned places is of a two-fold character. 

1 This statement canuot be implicitly accepted, seeing that the emigration 
of Chinamen to the ports and islands of the Eastern Archipelago, and to 
Australia and America, had begun long before the Taiping or Mohammedan 
rebellions, and was the natui-al consequence of poverty acting upon au 
overcrowded population. 



404 THE PROSPECT 

Either it is composed of a floating element who come down 
from China to make money for themselves, because there 
are a better opening and higher wages than at home, but 
who contemplate as speedy a return as possible to their 
native country ; or it consists of a sedentary population, who 
never mean to go back at all, because they prefer the city 
of their adoption, and have married the women of the 
country. Ugly as is the Chinaman to the European eye, he 
possesses the gift, unique in the world, of making himself 
acceptable as a husband to the women of half-a-score of 
different races. He weds, with equal readiness and satisfac- 
tion to both parties, the Korean, the Annarnite, the 
Cambogian, the Siamese. (With the Malays, who are 
Mohammedans, it is, of course, different.) This connubial 
facility is an^Xement on the side of order and good conduct, 
for it establishes him, not merely as a wanderer, but as a 
contented citizen in the land of .Moab. At the same time 
it severs him, so to speak, from the parent stock; for he 
loses the connection with the mother country which a 
Chinese spouse and connections would fortify, while the 
ensuing generation is hybrid both in origin and sympathy. 
I doubt, indeed, whether emigrants have ever anywhere 
established a pei'manent dominion who did not bring their 
wives along with them.^ 

1 This sentence lias been made the text of a charming essay by Sir Alfred 
Lyall, entitled 'Permanent Dominion in Asia,' in the Nineteenth Century 
of September 1895. He disputes the generalisation in the following terms : 
' On the whole, it seems donbtf ul, if the case of the English colonies proper 
be set aside, whether permanent dominion has anywhere been established by 
emigrants who have bronght their wives with them. One might even go 
further, and contend not only that dominion has rarely been strengthened by 
the importation of women from home, but also that, in some instances, it may 
be weakened when a ruling race intermarries strictly within its own nation- ■ 
ality, because such exclusiveness tends towards the formation of a caste.' 
I would answer this contention by the existing cases, quoted by Sir A. 
Lyall in a different context, of Great Britain in India and of Russia in 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 405 

Passing from thence to the argument that rests upon the 
capabilities of China as a great mihtary Power, I have said 
enough in previous pages of this book to show that in my 
judgment any such estimate is a delusion. Many European 
writers appear to think that because China has so many 
millions of stalwart and tough-limbed sons, she must there- 
fore possess so many hundred thousands of . 
excellent fighting soldiers ; and that because she weakness 
has arsenals, where, under European eyes, she 
turns out European cannons, projectiles, rifles, cartridges, 
and powder, she has therefore an organised force capable of 
being placed in the field against, and of giving serious 
trouble to, a European army. No such opinion has, I 
believe, ever been entertained or advanced by a competent 
critic. There is no country in the world where the military 
profession is of smaller account, or where the science of 
warfare is less intelligently studied than in China. The 
phrase cedant anna togce is there no aspiration for honourable 
peace, no sigh of satisfaction over the conclusion of a 
successful campaign^ but is the confession of an abiding 
contempt for the art that prefers the sword to the pen. 
The Chinese army, under Chinese officers, even with muskets 

Asia. There is a Eurasian element in India, but it lends no strength to 
British dominion. The latter is assvired by the presence of a foreign caste, 
exclusively and matrimonially replenished from home. Since Englishmen 
took their wives out to India, British jjower has not become less but more 
secure. It is true that the governing society is transient and fluctuating. 
But rapidity of steam-na^agation compensates for frequency of change, and 
there is a constancy of structure in the mass whose molecules are indi- 
vidually detached and fleeting. The Russians in Asia are equally a caste, 
and though their jDower of assimilation with Asiatics is notorious, it is not 
based upon marriage with Asiatic women. Neither in India nor in Asia 
does the occupation of the governing race amount to permanent settlement, 
and it ma.y by some be considered premature to speak of it as permanent 
dominion. But where do we learn that permanence of dominion is necessarily 
ideirtical with permanence of settlement, or that cajjacity for assimilation 
involves marriage with an inferior race ? The Roman Empire perished, not 
because its ruling class was, but because it ceased to remain, a caste. 



406 THE PROSPECT 

in its hands and cartridges in its pouches, is an undisciplined 
rabble of tramps, about as well qualified to withstand a 
European force as a body of Hyde Park processionists would 
be to repel a charge of the Life Guards. Whatever the 
Chinese rank and file have already shown themselves capable 
of doing under European lead, whatever they might do were 
such lead repeated in the future,^ they are, viewed as a 
national army, a relatively inferior military instrument to 
the weakest contingent in the force of the feeblest European 
State. This paragraph, which appeared ipsissimis verbis in 
my original edition, has since then received the crowning 
confirmation of the war with Japan. 

Under these conditions, which might be predicted, in a 
scarcely less degree, of the naval as well as of the military 

~ . forces of China, to talk, as Mr. Pearson does, of a 

Chinese 

recoriquest Chinese army marching by fixed stages across 
^ ■ Asia, or even confining itself to the more humble 

operation of recovering the adjoining countries which once 
acknowledged the sovereignty of Peking, appears to me the 
wildest freak of fancy. No one who had the least acquaint- 
ance with the state of the frontier garrisons in Kashgaria, 
or with the feelings of the Mohammedan population of those 
regions, could ever speak seriously of China wresting froxn 
Russia any portion of Eastern Turkestan. The idea of her 
marching through Tibet, and across the Himalayas, to i-e- 

1 I am not here discussing the contingency, which I have elsewhere con- 
templated, of the Chinese forces being utilised for purposes of defence, or 
even ultimately of offence, by an alien Power either in complete or in partial 
occupation of the countrj^ or j)laced (in virtue of a compact with the Chinese 
Government) in control of the military and naval forces of the Empire. 
Such a use of the Chinese army, which is not so utterly improbable in the 
far futvire as to be unworthy of consideration, might invest China with a 
defensive strength at present undreamed of ; and might even (though this 
is less likely) suggest ideas of expansion. But it is obvious, ex hypothesi, 
that the authority so extended would not be that of Chinese sovereignty, 
which is the particular point raised by Mr. Pearson's argument. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 407 

cover Nepal from Great Britain, is scarcely less fantastic ; 
while, on the day when Russia is compelled by military or 
diplomatic repulse to hand back to her the Amur Pi-ovince, 
it will no longer be possible to return a negative answer to 
the question of the American poet — 

' Is civilisation a failure. 
And. is the Caucasian played out ? ' 

To an even more nebulous future, into which not even the 
charms of an unfettered imagination will seduce me, belongs 
the epoch when, according to Mr. Pearson, Chinese „, , 
gentlemen will throng the salon's of Paris and the of social 
clubs of Pall Mall ; when a Chinese patron of the 
turf will lead back to the weighing-room a winner of the 
English Derby ; and when the pi'oblem of superfluous woman- 
hood will be solved by the apparition at Christian altars of 
eligible Chinese husbands. 

What Mr. Pearson appears to have lost sight of, in casting 

his political horoscope for China, is, on the one hand, the 

influence that must inevitably be exercised upon v n 

'^ Influence 

it by the faults as well as the virtues of the of national 
national character, by the morale of Chinese 
officialdom, and by the quality of Chinese administration ; 
on the other hand, the lessons of history, which are written 
in characters so large that he who runs may read. He 
omits fi'om consideration the Chinese system of government ,;)£_i 
- — short-sighted, extortionate, universally corrupt — and the ^ cjict^^^'^^^-'^** 
'temper of the people, averse from national enterprise, un- \ o (^\J.(r^ 
trained to conquest, devoid of patriotic ardour, content to stag- / ^ 
nate. In the face of these obstacles not even the exemplary 
sobriety of Chinamen, their industrial energy, or their genius 
for accumulation, can turn that which is a stationary, if not a 
receding, into a dynamic and aggressive force. 



408 THE PROSPECT 

We are led by the teachings of history to the same con- 
clusion. So far from taking naturally to a career of conquest, 
it is rather in her power of assimilating those by 

Lessons of ^j^^j^ ghe has herself been conquered, that China 

history. ^ ' 

has displayed her greatest strength. Two and a 
half centuries ago the millions of China succumbed easily to 
the assault of a few hundred thousand Tartars, whose yoke 
they have ever since contentedly borne. Four centuries 
earlier they had in similar fashion accepted a Mongol master. 
What the Mongols did, and what the Manchus did, I fail to 
see why others should not do after them, whose power, as 
compared with theirs, is in the same ratio as a field-gun to a 
Roman catapult, or a repeating rifle to the cross-bow. Nay, 
the work of detrition has already begun and proceeds apace ; 
nor is it the least peculiar feature of Mr. Pearson's daring 
forecast that it should have been framed in an epoch which, 
so far from revealing any symptoms of recovered or ex- 
panding strength, has, on the contrary, witnessed a steady 
and still unarrested decline. It is entirely during the last 
half, and mainly during the last quarter, of a century that 
Tongking, Annam, and Cochin China have been wrested 
from the grasp of China by France, that Siam has repudiated 
her ancient allegiance, that Burma, once a vassal, has been 
absorbed into the British system, that the Liuchiu Islands, 
also a tributaiy State, have been allowed to pass tacitly into 
the hands of Japan,i that Korea, after becoming a playground 
for the jealous rivalry of foreigners, has now been definitely 
wrested from the Chinese connection, that the Amur and 

1 The annexation hy Japan of the Liuchiu Islands, which had for cen- 
turies accepted the overlordship of China, and had sent an annual Tribute 
Mission to Peking, was the outcome of the Formosan Expedition in 1874. 
The Chinese behaved feebly in the matter ; and the Japanese, who swaggered 
and assumed the offensive, won. They then deposed the King, and in- 
corporated the group of 36 islands in the administrative system of the 
Empire. 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 409 

Ussuri Provinces have been pusillanimously ceded to Russia. 
And yet, in face of this unbroken record of contraction, 
against which there is nothing to set but the recovery of 
Kulja/ we are invited to beheve that the Power which 
has suffered this continuous diminution is on the threshold 
of a mighty revival, and is predestined to overrun the 
universe.^ 

Another danger which Mr. Pearson has overlooked, and 
which, though it need not seriously affect the national 
existence of China, must yet cripple her power 
of external advance, is the chance of internal j.g^gfijgj^ 
disruption. The items that compose the vast 
congeries of peoples and communities still acknowledging 
the Chinese sway are but loosely strung together. Even if 
we omit from consideration the Tibetans, the Mongolians, 
and the enormous mass of Turki and Mussulman subjects, 
ever hovering on the brink of revolt, there is in China 
proper little or none of that cohesion which is essential 

1 China has received an even greater credit than she deserves for this 
achievement, which was a personal triumph for the diplomacy of the Marqixis 
Tseng. In consenting to the retrocession, which was, after all, the fulfilment 
of a solemn compact, Russia took very good care to get her quid 2}ro quo, 
which there was nothing in the compact to authorise. 

2 Sir A. Lyall, in the article before cited, answers that, except the districts 
ceded to Russia, ' these acquisitions made by France and England were in- 
dependent states, that paid only a formal tribute to Peking and had long 
ago separated themselves from China, if, indeed, they had ever formed a 
substantive part of the Empire.' This also was Japan's contention with 
regard to Korea, when entering uj^on the recent war. It was not true, 
however, of Korea ; nor did it hold good of Tongking, for which the Chinese 
fought as hard as for an integral portion of the Empire ; nor of Upper Burma, 
in the outlying provinces of which Chinese influence had been so thoroughly 
recognised that, upon annexing it, the British Government paid the Chinese 
the diplomatic compliment of continuing the decennial tribute mission to 
Peking. Each of these countries China either did fight to retain and was 
beaten, or was too weak to defend and therefore lost. The question of the 
probable gain to their present owners, which is raised by Sir A. Lyall, is 
entirely distinct from that of the actual loss sustained by their former 
suzerains. 



410 



THE PROSPECT 




to national strength. Each province is an independent 
unit^ with its own government and army^ capable in times 
of convulsion of breaking away without difficulty from the 
central fabric. No real bond of union connects the northern 
with the southern portions of the Empire, whose peoples 
cannot even understand each other's dialect. There are 
parts of the Empire into which the news of the war with 
Japan, and of its disastrous consequences (for China) have 
never yet penetrated. In some of the outlying provinces 
the lower orders, though lightly taxed, are plunged in 
chronic penury. The authority of the dynasty is main- 
tained by its sacrosanct associations, by a highly organised 
and interested official hierarchy, and by the prestige of 
Peking. But were the capital occupied by an enemy, as 
it could be with very little difficulty (particularly by an 
enemy advancing from the north), the Emperor expelled, 
and the dynasty overturned, it is doubtful whether China 
would persevere in any protracted resistance, or initiate a 
policy of revenge. The various elements of disorder scattered 
throughout the Empire would each find its local focus, and 
a reign of emulous anarchy and universal dislocation might 
be expected to ensue. 

What then, it may be asked, if this picture of a re- 
suscitated and conquering China be rejected as a brilliant 
extravag anza of t he imagination, is the alter- 
dest'"^^^ native future that may be anticipated for this 
extraordinary people ? As regards the physical 
diffusion of the Yellow Race, Mr. Pearson is possibly right. 
Borneo and Sumatra and New Guinea will be the industrial 
spoil of her frugal colonists. She may completely swamp 
the Malays in Malaysia ; she may gain a firmer foothold in 
Siam. Her intrepid sons may cross the ocean and knock at 
new and unexpected portals. Whether a Manchu Emperor 



THE DESTINIES OF THE FAR EAST 411 

handles the vermihon pencil m the halls of the Forbidden 
City^ or whether for the proclamations of the Son of Heaven 
is substituted the ukase of a Muscovite Tsar, that expansion, 
like the swelling of the sap within the rind, will continue. 
But extension of race is not the same thing as extension of 
empire, and physical multiplication may even be a symptom 
of political decline. The extinction of China is impossible 
and absurd. A population of 350,000,000 human souls 
cannot be extirpated or bodily transferred. On the con- 
trary, I believe it will increase, and swell, and continue 
to overflow. But in this movement I detect no seed of 
empire, and I foresee no ultimate peril for the White 
Race. 

On the contrary, I think it may be argued that European 
administration and protection are essential conditions for 
the continuance of that very progress which is 
supposed to constitute their peril. It is in British ^.^\t^ 
communities and under the security of British 
rule that the expansion of Chinese energies has hitherto 
attained its maximum development. Why is the Yellow 
Race to turn round and rend its benefactors } Why is it to 
destroy the very system to secure which it acquiesces in 
expatriation from its own country, and to erect a reproduction 
of that from which it has fled ? To me it appears no 
more improbable that Chinamen should continue to accept 
European domination, in aziy country to Avhich the overflow 
of population may propel the emigrant stream, than is 
the spectacle of their present condition in Hongkong or 
Singapore. The Yellow belt in the Far East may con- 
ceivably snatch from the White the bulk of the spoils of 
commerce, and the best of the wages of toil ; but that 
it will ever seriously clutch at the keys of empire, or 



412 THE PROSPECT 

challenge the racial dominion of the West, I am quite 
unable to believe.^ 

There remains a modification, or rather a complete 
metamorphosis of Mr. Pearson's argument, which some of 

his disciples, anxious to cover the inglorious 
s Japan _^ retreat enforced by the Chinese collapse, have 

endeavoured to substitute for the original con- 
tention. This is the '^ happy thought' that what Mr. 
Pearson originally said of China may viltimately turn out 
to be true of Japan, which was barely mentioned by him, 
and of whose rise to greatness he seems to have been 
unaware. Japan, according to this hypothesis, is to be 
the triumphant bearer of the Yellow flag, which she has 
torn from the hands of China, in the impending campaign 
against the White ensign in the Asiatic tropics. I am not 
here concerned to deal minutely with this suggestion, which 
lies outside of my own argument in this chapter, and which 
is the outcome of a hasty ratiocination upon the results of 
the recent war. But I may say in passing that I disbelieve 
in it for a number of reasons. The Japanese have not, and 
are not likely for many generations to possess, the requisite 
numbers. They are lacking in colonising (though certainly^ 
not in commercial) energy, and in the hereditary instinct 
for expansion. Nor in their long and dramatic history is 
there any indication of capacity to rule or educate subject 
races of different blood. All their most valuable national 
properties they have acquired from, not given to, others. \ 

^ Sir A. Lyall {loc. cit.) meets these conclusions by the hypothesis of a 
Chinese regeneration, as the result of the war with Japan. Until, however, 
even a single one of the ifs and mays is replaced by an is, I prefer not to 
share these dreams. 



CHAPTER XIV 

GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 

Grave mother of majestic works, 

From her isle-altar gazing down, 
"Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks, 

Aird, king-like, wears the crown. 

Tennyson. 

Perhaps the most gratifying reflection suggested by these 

observations on the more distant kingdoms of the Asiatic 

continent is the part that must inevitably be 

^ ^ The ro/e 

played in their future by this country. The of Great 

inhabitants of a small island on the face of the " ^'"' 
northern seas, we exercise, owing to the valour of our 
ancestors and the intrepid spirit of our merchants, a con- 
trolling suffrage in the destinies of the Far East. That 
influence may, fortunately, be employed in the undivided 
interests of peace. Friendly relations between ourselves 
and Japan will assist her in that mercantile and industrial 
development in which she is following in our own footsteps, 
at the same time that it will confirm to us the continued 
command of the ocean routes. A similar attitude towards 
China will strengthen her in a resistance, for which there is 
yet time, against the only enemy whom she has real cause 
to fear, and will facilitate our own commercial access to her 
territories by land. Warfare with Russia need only ensue 
from attacks made upon British interests or British teri'itory 
elsewhere, and assuredly will not be provoked by ourselves. 

413 



414 THE PROSPECT 

The possibilities of dispute with France, with which I shall 
deal in my next volume, are dependent upon her own action, 
which, if it is confined to the regions at present under her 
sway, and respects the liberties of intervening States, need 
awake no protest from England. Whatever the future may 
bring forth, to this country it cannot fail to be a matter of 
capital importance, seeing that the Empire of Great Britain, 
though a European, a Canadian, and an Australian, is before, 
all else an Asiatic dominion. We still are, and have it in our 
hands to remain, the first Power in the East. Just as De 
"ST^ Tocqueville remarked that the conquest and government of 
India are really the achievements which have given to 
England her place in the opinion of the world, so it 
is the prestige and the wealth arising from her Asiatic 
position that are the foundation stones of the British 
Empire. There, in the heart of the old Asian continent, 
she sits upon the throne that has always ruled the East. 
Her sceptre is outstretched over land and sea. ' God- 
like,' she '^ grasps the triple forks, and, king-like, wears 
the crown.' 

But not only are we politically concerned in the evolution 
of these complex problems by reason of our Imperial situation 

in Hindustan : our own fellow-citizens are personal 
Reflex ^ 

influence actors in the drama which I have described, and 

if °fTi d ^^^ reflex action which it exercises upon them is 

a subject of study not less interesting than the 

part which they play, or are capable of playing, themselves. 

Englishmen and EugUsh influence have been taken to the 

r\ Far East by one of three purposes — commerce, the diffusion 

X / of the faith of Christ, or the responsibilities of empire. In 

the first category we are the heirs of the Portuguese and the 

Dutch, of whom the former survive only at the dilapidated 

p ort of Macao, while the latter, in their island possessions. 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 415 

He outside of the track which I have been examining. From 

the former, too, we inherited the self-imposed duty of 

carrying the cross which has sent our mis sionaries into all 

lands, and which, if it inspires the enthusiasm of Exeter 

Hall, is a source of not inferior anxiety to Downing Street. 

In the domain of empire the conquest of India has carried 

us forward on a tide of inevitable advance that leaves us 

knocking at the inland door of China and overlapping the 

northern frontier of Siam. The Avars at the end of the last 

century and in the first half of this, which were part of that 

Expansion of England which has been so ably portrayed by 

a contemporary historian, gave lis Singapore, which, lying on 

the ocean highway from West to East, is the greatest 

coaling station of the Orient, and Hongkong, which is the 

second port of the British Empire. It has not been 

without war that we have won even a mercantile entry into 

those countries at whose Treaty Ports our flag is now in the 

ascendant, and which have benefited by our intercourse 

with them not less than we ourselves. 

I have shown by figures in the course of this book, in 

the cases both of Japan and China, that the commercial 

supremacy of Great Britain in the Far Eastern 

seas, thouffh sharply assailed by an ever-increasina: -ommer- 
' ^ t^ -^ •' o qjjjI supre- 

competition, has not as yet been seriously shaken, macy of 
When we learn that out of the 3340 vessels Biitain 
that passed through the Suez Canal in 1893, 
no fewer than 2400 were British, while next on the list 
came the Germans with 270, the French with 190, and 
the Dutch with 180, we may form some idea of the 
extent to which that ascendency is still pushed in Eastern 
waters. How vital is its maintenance, not merely for the 
sake of our Empire, but for the sustenance of our people, 
no arguments are needed to prove. It is only in the 



416 THE PROSPECT 

East, and especially in the Far East, that we may still 

hope to keep and to create open markets for British manu- 

factm-es. Every port, every town, and every village that 

passes into French or Russian hands, is an outlet lost to 

Manchester, Bradford, or Bombay. 

In the comrnercial competition of the .£arJEast, German y, 

as the above returns indicate, comes second, and never loses 

^ . ground. France is a doubtful third. The real 

Our rivals. 

rivalry, however, is rather between Europeans of 

whatever nationality and the Chinese, whose unrivalled 
business capacities now seek the widest fields, and, backed 
up by immense capital and untiring energy, daily steal more 
ground from beneath the feet of the West. The English 
merchants complain in some places that their interests 
are insujficientlyL cared for and pushed by their consuls 
or diplomatic representatives ; and I have heard of cases 
in which systematic dilatoriness or contemptuous indiffer- 
ence in high places has seemed to justify some measure 
of exasperation ; although the reply of the impugned 
authorities is not without force — viz. that they are sent 
out not to act as touts in behalf of this or that particular 
enterprise, but to secure fair play to all ; and that the 
prestige acquired with the native functionaries by an 
attitude of vigilant impartiality in their country's interest 
is forfeited upon suspicion of acting even as patriotic 
partisans. The complaint seems, in China at any rate, 
to have been partly prompted by the success that attended 
the early efforts of a recent German Minister at Peking in 
securing contracts for his countrymen, and by alarm at 
the projected operations of some large financial syndicates 
who swooped down a few years ago upon Tientsin. These 
have now retired re prope infecta ; and I do not myself 
think that over the whole field of action the charge of 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 417 

neglect of British interests is one that has any serious 

foundation.^ 

At the same time, it is evident that business competition is 

much keener now than it ever was before. Large fortunes 

are made with difficulty ; the merchant princes „ 

and magnificent hongs of an earlier day have tion of 

business 
disappeared ; Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. 

remain almost alone among the great houses whose estab- 
lishments and operations a generation ago were the talk 
of the East. Men do not now expect fortunes ; they are 
content with competencies. Wealth is more evenly dis- 
tributed, and is dislocated by slighter shocks. It may 
be for this reason that speculation is more indulged in 
than of yore, and that the share-and-stock market of 
Hongkong has so many tales of woe to tell. Everywhere 
the traveller finds the British merchants banded together 
in a powerful confederacy, possessing strong views, and a 
very outspoken articulation in the local English press, 
regarding matters from a somewhat narrow but a very 
intelligible and a forcibly argued standpoint, and occupied 
in slowly accumulating the wherewithal which shall enable 
them some day to return home. The struggles and the 

1 When I first published an analogous statement to this in the pages of an 
English review, I was answered by a British merchant, that what his class 
complained of was not that British representatives or consuls declined to act 
as touts for them, but that they did not prevent the representatives of other 
foreign Powers in the Far East from acting in a similar capacity for their 
countrymen. This is, I think, expecting a little too much of diplomatic or 
consular intervention. He further complained of the ' j^ersistent attitude of 
contemptuous indifference displayed by Parliament towards all commercial 
matters,' and of the absence of discussions upon questions affecting British 
Empire and Trade in the Far East. If only my correspondent knew how 
ignorant is the House of Commons of those subjects, and how perilous is its 
interference when it begins to dabble in matters which it does not under- 
stand, he would hardly deplore an indifference which is at least preferable to 
partisanship or stupiditj-. Parliament never did much to help, and will 
probably, before it ceases, have done a great deal to injure, the Eastern 
Empire of Great Britain. 

2d 



Lfi'l 



418 THE PROSPECT 

interests of these men^ who bear the heat and burden of 
the day in foreign lands, and whose gains, if they are 
their own, are also their country's, deserve a warmer 
sympathy than they commonly receive. 

As regards the Christian missions, I may sum up my 

former argument. They are no monopoly either of the 

Protestant Church or of the English people. 

. ^^? ^^^ In Japan, in Korea, in China, in Tonffkinar, in 

missions. f > > > & &>•' 

Annam, in Sianti, Roman Catholic missionaries, 
French or Spanish, but chiefly the former, have been long 
established, have drawn around themselves native com- 
munities amongst whom they reside, and have acquired 
a numerical hold unquestionably greater than that of 
their Protestant successors. Among these the English, 
after the China Wars and the Treaties, took the lead. 
But an even greater activity is now being displayed by 
the Americans, who are flooding the Far East with their 
emissaries, male and female, and are yearly pouring 
thousands of pounds' worth of human labour into China 
and Japan. The English missionaries appear on the 
whole to be more carefully selected and to belong to 
a superior type. The good done by these men, in the 
secular aspect of their work, in the slow but sure spread 
of education, in the diifusion of ungrudging charity, and 
in the example of pure lives, cannot be gainsaid. On 
the other hand, it is impossible to ignore the facts that 
their mission is a source of political unrest and frequently 
of international trouble ; that it is subversive of the 
national institutions of the country in which they reside, 
because, while inculcating the Christian virtue of self- 
respect, it tends to destroy that respect for others which 
is the foundation of civil society ; that the number of 
converts is woefully disproportionate to the outlay in 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 419 

money, brain power, and life ; and that, from whatever 

cause, the missionaries as a class are rarely popular with 

their own countrymen. Indeed, one of the most striking 

phenomena of English-speaking society in the countries to 

which I have referred is the absolute severance of its two 

main component items, the missionaries and the merchants, 

neither of whom think or speak over favourably of the 

other, and who are rarely seen at each other's table. The 

missionary is offended at what he regards as the mere f,n\\ 

selfish quest of lucre ; the merchant sneers at work which 

is apt to parade a very sanctimonious expression, and 

sometimes results in nothing at all. I have come to the 

conclusion that it is futile either to apportion the blame 

between the two parties or to hope that any argument 

can effect a reconciliation. There are, of course, many 

cases where no such divergence exists, and where a 

harmony of interest and intercourse prevails ; but I have 

not found them sufficiently numerous to invalidate the 

general proposition. What may be the future of missionary 

effort it is impossible to predict ; but it would be a service 

of international value could some means be devised, not of 

arresting or diverting, but of controlling its operations, 

which are at present as random as the winds of heaven 

simultaneously let loose from the ^olus-bag of all the 

Churches in Christendom. 

Everywhere that I have been I have found English life 

retaining its essential characteristics. The Englishman 

expatriates himself without a sigh in the pursuit gj^ jj^j^ 

of livelihood, adventure, health or duty. He is life in the 

Fcir Enst. 
too robust to be homesick, too busy to repine. 

But he keeps up a constant and unbroken communication 

with home, and is familiar with all that is passing there. 

For Parliament, perhaps, he cai-es little, because the 



420 THE PROSPECT 

^ debates are over and forgotten long before they reach 
him, and because with the bulk of the votes he has no 
concern ; but for the national Flag he cares a great deal. 
Loyalty is his passion ; and the toast of ' The Queen ' is 
drunk with as boisterous a fervour in Far Kathay as at a 
Unionist banquet in St. James's Hall. Mr. Gladstone 
would not have been complimented had he been informed 
of the result of a voluntary poll that was taken among 
the readers of the principal newspapers, at the time of 
the last General Election, in Yokohama, Hongkong, and 
Singapore. In business matters the merchant works on, 
looks forward, and saves for his decennial holiday ; but he 
means to spend his declining years nowhere else thaix on 
his native soil. In the meantime he sustains a perpetual 
and innocent illusion by an importation of all the adjuncts, 
and a repetition of most of the habits, of home life. 
Magnificent club-houses afford a meeting gi'ound for tiffin 
in the middle of the day, for billiards and smoking when 
the day's work is over. Some of these institutions, as at 
Shanghai, Hongkong, and Singapore, are as well furnished 
with English newspapers and periodicals as any of the 
palaces of Pall Mall. In his passion for games, which 
keeps him healthiest of all the foreign settlers in the East, 
while the German grows fat, and the Frenchman withers,^ 
the Englishman plays lawif-tennis under a tropical sun ; he 
has laid out golf links at Hongkong and Chefoo ; cricket 
matches are as frequent and excite as keen an interest as 
the doings of a county team at home ; nay, I have even 
heard of football and' hockey at Singapore, within seventy 
miles of the Equator. A i^^course must be constructed 
outside every town where there is a sufficient settlement ; 
the annual race meeting, in which the owner frequently 
buys or breeds, trains, and rides his own ponies, is one of 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 421 

the events of the year; and the winner of the Hongkong 

or Shanghai ' Derby' enjoys a more than ephemeral renown. 

On festive occasions dances reunite the sexes ; and, where 

it is not too hot^ riding is a favourite recreation. 

Throughout the Far East excellent and well-informed 

newspapers are owned and edited by Englishinen ; and 

among them The Japan Daily Mail, The Noiih 

The Press. 
China Daihj News, and the Straits Times, as well 

as several others, would be a credit to the Press of any 
European country. Their telegraphic information is scanty 
and bad ; but that is the fault of the telegraphic agency 
upon whom they one and all depend, and whose short- 
comings are a byword throughout the East. If these 
papers frequently attack the local representatives of British 
government, it must be remembered that Englishmen like 
to grumble, and that the Press is commonly the mouth- 
piece of the non-official and mercantile community, who 
enjoy picking a bone with the salaried servants of Govern- 
ment. 

The domestic environments of life are not less reminis- 
cent of the old countiy. The exterior of the house 
conforms to climatic needs, and spreads itself 
out in airy verandahs ; but the fm-niture is not ..?^^^ ^^ 
seldom impoi'ted direct from home. The national 
love for neatness and decorum appears in the private 
grounds, the bunds, and public gardens of the cities where 
the English are in the ascendant ; and, were every other 
mark of British influence erased to-morrow, it would always 
remain a marvel how from a scorching rock had been 
evolved the Elysian graces of Hongkong. 

Everywhere, too, I have found the Englishman enjoying 
that reputation for integrity and superiority to chicanery, 
corruption, or intrigue, which has given him his commanding 



422 THE PROSPECT 

positioH in the world. The officials are of a higher type 

than those by whom other Powers are represented, and are 

frequently drawn from services specially organised 

Jinglisn ^^^^ recruited. Nothing, indeed, is more strik- 

character. ^' ' 

ing in travel than the character and personality 
of the men who are sustaining in positions of varied trust 
the interests of Great Britain in far lands. The larger 
atmosphere of life and the sense of responsibility seem to 
free them from the pettinesses of a home existence that is 
too apt to be consumed in party conflict, and to suggest 
broader views of men and things. The same high tone 
exists through the various strata of society and employment, 
and the clerk behind the counter of the English bank will 
be no less a gentleman both in birth and education than the 
Governor in his palace or the Minister in his Legation. I 
do not think that the same can be said of the Germans, or 
of the French, or of the Dutch. Commerce has not yet 
become popular among the upper classes of German society. 
In France promotion is too frequently the reward of political 
fidelity, of journalistic service, or of successful Chauvinism, 
to admit of a continuous evolution of useful public servants. 
How many of the blunders made by that people in Tong- 
king have been due to the character of the men who in times 
past have been appointed to positions of importance without 
the faintest knowledge of the country or qualifications for 
the post, it would be hard to conjecture. 

Similarly, though our rivals and antagonists invariably 
ascribe our political success and our widespread Empire to 

a more than ordinary duplicity, I have not found 
jj'^Y^ that this impression is anywhere shared by the 

Eastern Powers with whom, by virtue of our 
commanding commercial position and the multiplicity of 
our interests^ we are brought into frequent, and sometimes 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 423 

contentious, contact. On the contrary, it appears that 
English Governments compose their disputes, settle their 
boundaries, and conclude their treaties, with a greater 
facility than other Powers, and that English consuls are 
looked up to as the lea3iT^<i^eii by every section of the v 
community in which they reside, and are frequently ap- 
pealed to by others as arbiters in matters lying outside their 
official ken. Though, too, we are credited by France with 
being the most aggressive of peoples, this accusation does 
not seem to tally with the voluntary evacuation of Port 
Hamilton, in deference to the susceptibilities of China and 
Korea, noi' with our conduct in disposing of the vast heritage 
that came into our hands upon the annexation of Upper 
Burma, nor with our policy during the recent war, in which 
we seem to have been the only interested party that secured 
no pickings from the bone ; whilst the charge comes with 
ill grace from a people who have recently perpetrated the 
indefensible outrage upon Siam. Similarly, though it 
frequently appeared in print, particularly in America, that V^ 
Great Britain alone stood in the way of Treaty Revision iy''^ | 
Japan, the facts which I have elsewhere displayed and the 
signature of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty in July 1894, will 
have shown the baselessness of the insinuation. 

There are certain points in connection with our diplomatic 
representation in the Far East to which it may not be out 
of place to call attention. The Foreign Office has ^ . . , 
sometimes appeared to regard certain of these representa- 
posts as of only secondary importance, and as 
refuges for failures elsewhere, or at least for persons posses- 
sing no peculiar qualifications. To my mind, there are few 
more important appointments than those to the Courts of 
Japan and of China, and, in a somewhat less degree, of 
Siam ; and yet it has in times past occurred that gentlemen 



424 THE PROSPECT 

have been appointed to these posts who have no personal 
acquaintance with the East or knowledge of the problem 
with which they may require to deal. The reception 
accorded to Sir N. O' Conor, on his nomination to the British 
Legation at Peking in 1S92, sufficiently indicated the re- 
joicing of the British community in the Far East at the 
appointment of a man who really knew both the country to 
which he was accredited and the business which he would have 
to transact. There appears to be still an immense opening 
in the Far East for a diplomatic career. We maintain at 
Tokio, at Peking, and at Bangkok, a number of so-called 
(^udent Interpreters, who, after passing a preliminary ex- 
amination at home, go out to the East, undergo a steady 
^ (eburse of instruction in the language of the country in which 
ithey will pass so much of their lives, and thence are drafted 
'into the Consular Service. From their ranks have sprung 
such men as the late Sir Harry Parkes, whose name is as 
familiar a household word in Japan and in China as is that 
of his still-surviving namesake in Australia ; Sir. E. Satow, 
the present British Minister at Tokio ; and others whose 
names will occur to the memory. There is just as great 
scope for the production of such men, and even greater need 
for their services now than in bygone days. The Far East 
demands a knowledge that can only be acquired after years, 
and a statesmanship that must have been in part nurtured 
in a local atmosphere. The great position attained by the 
late Sir William White at Constantinople, starting from a 
similar origin, may be emulated in countries where also 
there is an Eastern Question not much less important than 
the control of the Bosphorus or the ownership of St. Sophia. 
I would fain hope that among the rising generation may 
be found some who will be worthy heirs of these great 
traditions. 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 425 

In another respect the Foreign Office appears to me to 
have neglected an elementary part of diplomatic education^ 

and an indispensable adjunct to the smooth ^ 

^ Suggested 

working of the diplomatic machine. One would libraries of 
surely expect to find in the British Legation in ^gfg"gjj(,g 
every foreign country, most of all in the East, a 
compact, well-chosen, and serviceable library of the best 
books relating to the country in question, and the political 
problems which it is likely to suggest. Such libi'aries were 
in part collected many years ago. I found the fragments 
of such a one at Peking, just as I remember routing out 
from a dusty closet the debris of another at Teheran. At 
Meshed I could not discover a single publication on the 
Afghan Frontier Question. Similarly, at Bangkok there 
was not one volume relating to the frontier between Burma, 
Siam, and China, though a small but excellent literature 
exists upon the subject, and might at any moment be re- 
quired for official reference. My impression is that at Tokio 
there is a similar absence. What is wanted in each case is, 
not a library of general reference, but a collection of authori- 
tative works, within a limited range, to which recourse can 
be had at any moment. As soon as the nucleus of such a 
collection had been formed, a few pounds a year would 
amply suffice for the necessary increment, which should 
be carefully selected and sent out from home. The 
India Office has sometimes extended such a patronage to 
useful publications, purchasing a certain number of copies, 
and distributing them among the localities concerned ; but 
I have never heard of the Foreign Office exercising a 
similarly wise generosity. 

Other diplomatic anomalies, easily removable, if deemed 
of sufficient importance, have come under my notice while 
travelling in the Far East. At Peking it might be well 



426 THE PROSPECT 

were the diplomatic staff" of Great Britain to include an 

Indian officer or aUache, so many are the purely Indian 

questions that come up for discussion with the 

ip oma ic 'j'g^ijjp-li Yamen, upon which there is no one on 

anomalies. ° ' ^ 

the spot to throw the necessary light. An even 
greater desideratum is the appointment of a commercial 
attache (similar to one or two analogous officials in Europe), 
who should travel about from post to post in the Far East, 
and visit the inland districts ; and who should report upon 
the changing taste and style of the native markets and upon 
the economic products of the country, as well as collect any 
information that might be of service to British merchants. 
In days of such acute competition, when the representatives 
of foreign Powers I'esort to a more than diplomatic strategy 
in the interests of their countrymen, no legitimate step 
should be neglected for the protection and extension of 
British trade. To the uninstructed eye it further seems a 
strange anomaly that whilst Japan, China, and Siam are 
under the Foreign Office, Hongkong, which all but touches 
the Chinese mainland, and the Straits Settlements, which 
actually touch Siam, should be under the Colonial Office ; 
while Burma again, which touches both Siam and China, is 
under the India Office. Perhaps some day we shall arrive at 
a more rational concentration of interests, possibly even, as 
has been suggested, at the creation of a new department 
which shall deal with the British affairs of the Asiatic con- 
tinent. 

Great as is the position which I have depicted as being 
Future of enjoyed by Great Britain in the Far East, I believe 

Great that it will be greater still. The improvement 

Britain 

in the of existing and the creation of new means of 

^^ ■ communication are rapidly developing a solid- 
arity between the East and the West which our grand- 



GREAT BRITAIN IN THE FAR EAST 427 

parents would have deemed impossible. Fusion and not 
disintegration will be the keynote of the progress of the 
coming century. There remain now but few countries to 
which access has not already been gained ; though there are 
several whose political stability is precarious^ or whose politi- 
cal boundaries are not determined. As soon, however, as 
fixity can be predicated of either of these departments — 
much more, if of both— commercial exploitation will begin. 
For this object British energy, British capital, and British 
experience will be I'equired. The Power which has been 
longest in the field, which enjoys the best geographical 
position for the distribution of its commerce, or the dissemi- 
nation of its influence, and which can command the largest 
resources, must infallibly triumph in any such competition. 
Our position in India gives us the certain command of the 
main land-routes and railroads that will lay open the Far 
East in the not distant future. Our position upon the ocean, 
if duly safeguarded, should assure to us the control of the 
maritime highway.^ Furthermore, the country which has 
scattered millions in propping up the rotten Republics of 

1 I iutrodiice this qualification because the naval strength of Great Britain 
in the Far East, i.e. in the waters between Singaf)ore and Vladivostok, when 
compared ^\^th the combined fleets of France and Russia, can scarcely be said 
to possess that incontestable predominance without which security cannot be 
predicated. In A^jii l 1Sfl4 the British squadron in the Far East consisted of 
2 ironclads (aggregating U.^150 tons), 20 unarnioured vessels, comprising 7 
cruisers and 7 gunboats ; and 6 torpedo-boats (aggregating 29,850 tons) ; or a 
total tonnage of 41,000, with a complement of 3400 men. At the same 
period th£jFrench fleet consisted of S; ironclads (6350 tons), 1 cruiser, and 20 
smaller vessels, mainlj^ gun-boats, as well as 14 river steamers ; with a total 
tonnage of 14,370, or, excluding the river-steamers, 12,050, and a complement 
of 2580 men. The Russian squadron consisted of .11 vessels, viz. 1 cruiser, 
5 sloops, and 5 gunboats, with a total tonnage of 15,510, and a complement 
of 1650 men. Nor, in speaking of the Russian forces, mvist sight be lost of / 
the Dobra Volna Flot, or Volunteer Fleet, the princijjal cruisers of which ; 
can carry from 1500 to 2000 troops, and are the swiftest vessels east of; 
Suez. In peace they are used to transport soldiers and stores to Vladivostok. | 
What they would do in war it might he premature to forecast. 



428 THE PROSPECT 

the New World may very well repay its age-long debt to 
the Old by a similar, even if a tardy, service. 

Above all will this task be facilitated by the increasing 
diffusion of the English tongue. Already spoken in every 
_,, store from Yokohama to Rangoon ; already taught 

English in the niilitary and naval colleges of China, and 
in the schools of Japan and of Siam ; already 
employed in the telegraphic services of Japan, China, and 
I^orea, and stamped upon the silver coins that issue from 
the mints of Osaka and Canton ; already used by Chinamen 
themselves as a means of communication between subjects 
from different provinces of their mighty Empire — it is des- 
tined with absolute certainty to be the language of the Far 
East. Its sound will go out into all lands, and its words 
unto the ends of the world. That this splendid future is no 
idle dream of fancy, but is capable of realisation at no in- 
definite period, none who have travelled widely in Eastern 
Asia will doubt. Moral failure alone can shatter the pro- 
spect that awaits this country in the impending task of 
regeneration. . '.^ 

We sailed wherever ship could sail, 

founded many a mighty State ; 
'ray Go^our greatness may not fail 

irough craveiT fears of being great ! 




APPENDIX 

I. Treaty of Shimonoseki. (Signed, April 17, 1895; ratified 
at Chef 00, May 8, 1895.) 

Article I. — China recognises definitively the full and complete 
independence and autonomy of Korea, and in consequence the pay- 
ment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities 
by Korea to China in derogation of such independence and auto- 
nomy, shall wholly cease for the future. 

Article II. — China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sove- 
reignty the following territories together with all fortifications, 
arsenals, and public projjerty thereon : — 

(«) The southern portion of the province of Feng-Tien within 
the following boundaries : — 

The line of demarcation begins at the mouth of the River Yalu 
and ascends that stream to the mouth of the River Anping ; from 
thence the line runs to Feng Huang ; from thence to Haicheng, 
from thence to Ying Kow, forming a line which describes the 
southern portion of tlie territory. The places above named are 
included in the ceded territor)^ When the line reaches the River 
Liao at Ying Kow it follows the course of that stream to its mouth, 
where it terminates. The mid-channel of the River Liao shall be 
taken as the line of demarcation. 

This cession also includes all islands appertaining or belonging to 
the province of Feng-Tien situated in the eastern portion of the 
Bay of Liao-Tung and in the northern part of tlie Yellow Sea. 

(6) The Island of Formosa, together with all islands appertain- 
ing to the said Island of Formosa. 

(c) The Pescadores Group, that is to say, all islands lying 
between the 119th and 12tli degrees of longitude east of Greenwich 
and the 23rd and 240th degrees of north latitude. 

429 



430 APPENDIX 

Article III. — The alignments of the frontiers described in the 
preceding Article^ and shown on the map, shall be subject to verifi- 
cation and demarcation on the spot by a Joint Commission of 
Delimitation, consisting of two or more Japanese and two or more 
Chinese Delegates to be appointed immediately after the exchange 
of the ratifications of this Act. In case the boundaries laid down 
in this Act are found to be defective at any point, either on account 
of topography or in consideration of good administration, it shall 
also be the duty of the Delimitation Commission to rectify the same. 

The Delimitation Commission will enter upon its duties as soon 
as possible, and will bring its labours to a conclusion within the 
period of one year after appointment. 

The alignments laid down in this Act shall, however, he main- 
tained until the rectifications of the Delimitation Commission, if any 
are made, shall have received the appro\'al of the Governments of 
Japan and China. 

Article IV. ^ — China agrees to pay to Japan as a war indemnity 
the sum of 200,000,000 Kuping Taels. The said sum to be paid in 
eight instalments. The first instalment of 50,000,000 taels to be 
paid within six months, and the second instalment of 50,000,000 
taels to be paid within twelve months after the exchange of the 
ratifications of this Act. The remaining sum to be paid in six equal 
annual instalments as follows : The first of such equal annual instal- 
ments to be paid within two years ; the second within three years ; 
the third within four years ; the fourth within five years ; the fifth 
within six years, and the sixth within se^'en years, after the 
exchange of the ratifications of this Act. Interest at the rate of 
5 per centum per annum shall begin to run on all unpaid portions 
of the said indemnity from the date the first instalment falls due. 

China, however, shall have the right to pay by anticipation at 
any time any or all of said instalments. In case the whole amount 
of said indemnity is paid within three years after the exchange of 
ratifications of the present Act, all interest shall be waived and the 
interest for two years and a half or for any less period if then 
already paid shall be included as a part of the principal amount of 
tlie indemnity. 

Article V. — The inhabitants of the territories ceded to Japan, 
who wish to take up their residence outside tlie ceded districts, 
shall be at liberty to sell their real property and retire. For tliis 
purpose a period of two years from the date of the excliange of the 
ratifications of the present Act, shall be granted. At the expiration 



TREATY OF SHIMONOSEKI 431 

of that period, those of the inhahitaiits who sliall not have left such 
territories shall, at the option of Japan, be deemed to be Japanese 
subjects. 

Each of the two Governments shall, immediately upon the 
exchange of the ratifications of the present Act, send one or more 
Commissioners to Formosa to eifect a final transfer of that Province, 
and within tlie space of two months after the exchange of the 
ratifications of this Act such transfer shall be completed. 

Article VI. — All treaties between Japan and China having come 
to an end in consequence of war, China engages immediately upon 
the exchange of the ratifications of this Act, to appoint Plenipoten- 
tiaries to conclude, with the Japanese Plenipotentiaries, a Treaty of 
Commerce and Navigation and a Con^'ention to regulate Frontier 
Intercourse and Trade. The Treaties, Conventions and Regulations 
now subsisting between China and European Powers shall serve as 
a basis for the said Treaty and Convention between Japan and 
China. From the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this 
Act until the said Treaty and Convention are brought into actual 
operation, the Japanese Government, its officials, commerce, 
navigations, frontier intercourse and trade, industries, ships and 
subjects, shall, in every respect, be accorded by China most favoured 
nation treatment. 

China makes in addition the following concessions, to take eifect 
six months after the date of the present Act : — 

1st. — The following cities, towns, and ports, in addition to those 
already opened, shall be opened to the trade, residence, industries, 
and manufactures of Japanese subjects, under the same conditions 
and with the same privileges and facilities as exist at tlie present 
open cities, towns, and ports of China : 

1. Shashih, in the Province of Hupeh. 

2. Chung King, in the Province of Szechuan. 

3. Suchow, in the Province of Kiang Su. 

4. Hangchow, in the Province of Chekiang. 

Tlie Japanese Government shall have the right to station Consuls 
at any or all of the above-named places. 

2nd. Steam navigation for vessels under the Japanese flag for 
the conveyance of passengers and cargo, shall be extended to the 
following places : 

1. On the Upper Yangtsze River, from Ichang to Cluing King. 

2. On the Woosung River and the Canal, from Shanghai to 
Suchow and Hanffchow. 



432 APPENDIX 

The Rules and Regulations which now govern the navigation of 
the inland waters of China by foreign vessels shall^ so far as appli- 
cable, be enforced in respect of the above-named routes, until new 
Rules and Regulations are conjointly agreed to. 

3rd. Japanese subjects purchasing goods or produce in the 
interior of (^hina or transporting imported merchandise into the 
interior of Chiiaa, shall have the right temporarily to rent or hire 
warehouses for the storage of the articles so purchased or trans- 
ported without the payment of any taxes or exactions whatever. 

4th. Japanese subjects shall be free to engage in all kinds of 
manufacturing industries in all the open cities, towns, and ports of 
China, and shall be at liberty to import into China all kinds of 
machinery, paying only the stipulated import duties thereon. 

All articles manufactured by Japanese subjects in China shall, in 
respect of inland transit and internal taxes, duties, charges, and 
exactions of all kinds, and also in respect of warehousing and 
storage facilities in the interior of China, stand upon the same foot- 
ing and enjoy the same privileges and exemptions as merchandise 
imported by Japanese subjects into China. 

In the event additional Rules and Regulations are necessary in 
connection with these concessions, they shall be embodied in the 
Treaty of Commerce and Navigation provided for by this Article. 

Article VIL — Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding 
Article, the evacuation of China by the armies of Japan shall be 
completely eifected within three months after the exchange of the 
ratifications of the present Act. 

Article VIII. — As a guarantee of the faithful performance of 
the stipulations of this Act, China consents to the temporary 
occupation by the military forces of Japan, of Wei Hai Wei, in the 
Province of Shantung. 

Upon the payment of the first two instalments of the war indem- 
nity herein stipulated for and the exchange of the ratifications of 
the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, said place shall be 
evacuated by the Japanese forces, provided the Chinese Govern- 
ment consents to pledge, under suitable and sufficient arrangements, 
the Customs Revenue of China as security for the payment of the 
final instalment of said indemnity. 

It is, however, expressly understood that no such evacuation 
shall take place until after the exchange of the ratifications of the 
Treaty of Commerce and Navigation. 



TREATY OF SHIMONOSEKI 433 

Article IX. — Immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications 
of this Act, all jjrisonei-s of war then held shall be restored, and 
China undertakes not to ill-treat or punish prisoners of war so 
restored to her by Japan. China also engages to at once release all 
Japanese subjects accused of being military spies or charged with 
any other military offences. China further engages not to jjunish 
in any manner, nor to allow to be punished, those Chinese subjects 
who have in any manner been compromised in their relations with 
the Jajjanese army during the war. 

Article X. — All offensive military operations shall cease upon 
the exchange of the ratifications of this Act. 

Article XI. — The present Act shall be ratified by their Majes- 
ties the Emperor of Japan and the Emperor of China, and the 
ratifications shall be exchanged at Chefoo, on the 8th day of the 
5th month of the 28th year of Meiji, corresponding to 14th day of 
the 4th month of the 21st year of Kuang Hsii. 

In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed 
the same and have afifixed thereto the seal of their arms. 

Done at Shimonoseki, in duplicate, this I7th day of the 4th 
month of the 28th year of Meiji, corresponding to 23rd day of the 
3rd month of the 21st year of Kuang Hsii. 

COUNT ITO HIROBUML 
VISCOUNT MUTSU MUNEMITSU. 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 
LI CHING-FONG. 

Separate Articles. 

Article I. — The Japanese Military Forces which are, under 
Article viil of the Treaty of Peace signed this day, to temporarily 
occujjy Wei Hai Wei, shall not exceed one Brigade, and from the 
date of the exchange of the ratifications of the said Treaty of Peace, 
China shall pay annually one-fourth of the amount of the 
expenses of such temporary occupation, that is to say, at the rate of 
500,000 Kuping Taels per annum. 

Article II. — ^The territory temporarily occupied at Wei Hai Wei 
shall comprise the Island of Liu Kung and a belt of land 5 Japanese 
ri wide along the entire coast-line of the Bay of Wei Hai Wei. 

No Chinese Troops shall be permitted to approach or occupy any 
places within a zone 5 Japanese ri wide beyond the boundaries of 
the occupied territory. 

2e 



434 APPENDIX 

Article III. — The Civil Administration of the occupied territory 
shall remain in the hands of the Chinese Authorities. But such 
Authorities shall at all times be obliged to conform to the orders 
which the Japanese Army of occupation may deem it necessary to 
give in the interest of the healthy maintenance^ safety^ distribution 
or discipline of the Troops. 

All military offences committed within the occupied territory 
shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Japanese Military 
Authorities. 

The foregoing Separate Articles shall have the same force, value, 
and effect as if they had been word for word inserted in the Treaty 
of Peace signed this day. 

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed 
the same and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. 

Done at Shimonoseki, in duplicate, this 17th day of the 4th 
month of the 28th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 21st year of 
Kuang Hsii. 

COUNT ITO HIROBUMI. 
VISCOUNT MUTSU MUNEMITSU. 
LI HUNG-CHANG. 



II. — Imperial Rescript. {May 10, 1895.) 

We recently complied with the request of China, and in conse- 
quence appointed Plenipotentiaries and caused them to confer with 
the Plenipotentiaries appointed by China and to conclude a Treaty 
of Peace between the two Empires. 

Since then the Governments of their Majesties the Emperors of 
Russia and Germany and of the Republic of France have united in 
a recommendation to our Government not to permanently possess 
the Peninsula of Feng-Tien, our newly-acquired territory, on the 
ground that such permanent possession would be detrimental to the 
lasting peace of the Orient. 

Devoted as we unalterably are and ever have been to the princi- 
ples of peace, we were constrained to take up arms against China 
for no other reason than our desire to secure for the Orient an en- 
during peace. 

Now, the friendly recommendation of the three Powers was 
equally prompted by the same desire. Consulting, therefore, the 
best interests of peace and animated by a desire not to bring upon 
our people added hardship or to impede the progress of national 



TREATY OF SHIMONOSEKI 435 

destiny by creating new complications and thereby making the 
situation difficult and retarding the restoration of peace, we do not 
hesitate to accept such recommendation. 

By concluding the Treaty of Peace China has already shown her 
sincei'ity of regret for the violation of her engagements, and thereby 
the justice of our cause has been proclaimed to the world. 

Under the circumstances, we can find nothing to impair the 
honour and dignity of our Empire if we now yield to the dictates of 
magnanimity and, taking into consideration the general situation, 
accept the advice of the friendly Powers. 

Accordingly we have commanded our Government, and have 
caused them to reply to the three Powers in the above sense. 

Regarding the arrangements by which we will renounce the 
permanent possession of the Peninsula, we have specially commanded 
our Government that the necessary measures shall be made the 
subject of future negotiations and adjustment with the Government 
of China. 

Now, the exchange of i-atifications of the Treaty of Peace has 
already been effected ; the friendly relations between the two 
Empires have been re-established, and cordial relations with all 
other Powers are also strengthened. 

We therefore command our subjects to respect our will; to take 
into careful consideration the general situation ; to be circumspect 
in all things ; to avoid erroneous tendencies ; and not to impair or 
thwart the high aspirations of our Empire. 

[Imperial Sign Manual]. 
(Countersigned by all Ministers of State). 



INDEX 



Addresses to the Throne, Japanese, 

27, 32-3» 35-6, 62-3. 
Alcock, Sir R., 210 n. 
Americans in Japan, 46. 
in Korea, 135, 146, 163, 169, 

176, 202, 215. 
Amherst, Lord, 268. 
Amur, The, 208, 316, 334. 
Ancestor Worship in China, 240, 

287-8, 344. 

in Korea, 109, 186. 

Aoki, Viscount, 59. 

Aomori, Rail to, 13. 

Army, v. sub Names of Countries. 

Arthur, Port, v. Port Arthur. 

Asia, Fascination of, 1-6; Influence 

on Europe of, 2 ; d uality of, 

3 ; Contrasts of, 3-4. 
Athletics, English, 420. 
Audience Question at Peking, The, 

264-75. 



Barrow, Colonel E. G., 39. 
Beacons in Korea, 122. 
Bell, John, 267 «. 

Colonel Mark, 278, 330. 

Bellonet, M. de, 2or. 
Black Flags, The, 324. 
Brandt, Herr von, 272-3. 
' Braves, The,' 323. 
Brinkley, Captain, 17. 
Broughton Bay, 92. 
Broughton, Captain W. R., 92 n. 
Buddha, i, 352. 



Buddhism in China, 343-58. 
— - — • in Japan, 49. 

in Korea, v. sub Monks ; and 

Korean Religion. 



Campbell, C. W., 88, 100 11, 106. 
Canton, 282, 302, 321, 332. 
Carles, W. R., 88, 99 n. 
Cesarevitch in China, The, 272, 277. 
Chang An Sa, iii. 
Chang Chih Tung, Viceroy, 318. 
Chefoo Convention, The, 223. 
Chemulpo, 89, 93-4, I49) 168, 172,^ 

173, 175-6, 200. 
Cheng-tu Massacres, 304. 
Chia Ching, Emperor, 269. 
China, Collapse of, 364-9. 

The Emperor of, 223, 231, 233,. 

237-8, 242-6, 272, 348. 

— — The Empress Dowager of, 238,. 

241, 256, 271, 315, 317. 
Future of, 320, 340-2, 395, 396- 

412. 

Results of the War on, 369. 

Chinese Administration, 208, 223 ii^ 

261, 282, 338-9, 407- 

Agriculture, 399, 403. 

Army, 321-31, 364, 405. 

Awakening, 311-42. 

Character, 221-2, 301, 336, 341, 

397, 407- 

Colonists, 395-7 401-4. 

Customs Service, 178-9) 206, 276. 

Foreign Policy, 197-207, 264, 

275-83- 



438 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



Chinese Horses, 221. 

in Japan, 66. 

Inns, 221. 

as Mercenaries, 334, 406 n. 

Minerals, 319. 

Navy, 331-4- 

Newspapers, 335, 336 n. 

Officialism, 338-9, 366, 373. 

Population, 229, 232, 399, 411. 

Railways, 277, 314-20. 

Relations with the Powers, 260- 

83. 
Religion, 246, 250, 288. 

Secret Societies, 403. 

■ Scenery, 227-8. 

Trade, 281, 336. 

■ Village Life, 228. 

Women, 242. 

Ching, Prince, 262. 

Chinnampo, 168 n. 

Chow Han, 304. 

Christianity in China, 283-310. 

— — in Japan, 49-50. 

Korea, 136, 142, 148, 288 ; and 

V. sub Missionaries. 
Chun Chi Chu, The, 223 «. 
Chun, Prince, 223 n, 239. 
Clan Government in Japan, 23, 30-1. 
Clepsydra at Peking, 248. 
Climate of the Far East, 8, and v. 

sub Names of Countries. 
Coal Mines in China, 314, 319, 337, 

338- 

Japan, 44. 

Korea, i8r. 

Codes, Japanese, 59, 61-2, 67. 
Commerce, v. siih Trade. 
Confucianism in China, 249, 288, 344^. 

Korea, 137, 150. 

Cremation in China and Japan, 357. 



Dallet, Pere, 87, 96 n, 154 «, 19872. 
Daveluy, Eveque, 96 n. 
Diamond Mountains, The, 102. 



Diet, Japanese, v. sub Japanese. 

Dockyards, Chinese, 332. 

Douglas, Professor R. K., 223 n, 

261 71. 

Du Halde, 229. 
Dutch in Korea, 87, 97. 



East, The, Books on, 4, 87-8, 305 n, 

425- 

The Far, Idiosyncrasies of, 7> 221. 

Destinies of, 390-412. 

East India Company, The, 6 n, 168 w, 
178 n. 

Elections, Japanese, v. Diet. 

Elgin, Earl of, 53, 253, 293. 

Emperor of China, v. sub China. 

of Japan, v. i-2<^ Japan. 

England in the East, Early appear- 
ance of, 6 ; Importance of, 68 ; 
Russian interests and, 213-4, 275- 
83, 413; Japan and, 215, 413, 
423 ; China and, 210, 214, 225, 
264, 275-83, 414 ; France and, 
414; Power of, 414; Diplomacy 
of, 422 ; Representatives of, 423-4, 
426 ; Future of, 426-8 ; Naval 
strength of, 427 u. 

English in the Far East, The, 68, 417- 
22; Character of, 421-2. 

Language in the Far East, The, 

428. 

Enomoto, Viscount, 61. 

Extra-territoriality in Japan, 53. 

in Korea, 195 n. 



Family Ties, Strength of Chinese, 

240, 346, 351. 
Fengshui, The, 233, 302, 317. 
Feudalism in Japan, 14, 18, 40, 90, 

392. 
Foreigners in China, v. Missionaries, 
Treaty Ports, etc. 



INDEX 



439 



Foreigners in Japan, 28, 45-6, 52 n, 
53. 56. 59-60, 64-S, 67, 69-81. 

in Korea, 87, 97 n, 126, 169-70. 

Formosa, 3, 191, 333, 338, 408. 

France in the Far East, 9, 43, 215, 
279, 414, 416. 

Franco-Chinese War (1884), The, 
210, 319, 321, 328-9, 333. 

Frazer, J. G. , 154. 

French in China, 279, 292, 294-95. 

in Korea, 122, 184, 191, 215. 

in Siam, 423. 

Fusan, 89, 90, 189, 212. 



Gardner, C. T., 305. 

Gensan, 88, 89, 90, 92, loi, iii, 

168. 
Geo Mun, The, 139. 
Germans in Korea, 169, 170, 215. 

in China, 322. 

Ginse7tg, 168, 179, 199. 

Gold in Korea, 181 -2. 

Gordon, General C. G., 223, 329, 

334- 
Granville, Earl, 214 ;;. 
Gray, Archdeacon, 350 71. 
' Great Japan Union, The, ' 28, 64. 
Griffis, W. E., 88, 96, 148, 154 n. 
Grimaldi, 229 11. 
Groot, Dr. de, 402 ;/. 

H 

Hakodate, 52 n. 

Hamel, Hendrik, 87 n, 97 n, 105, 

108, 118, 141, 160, 198. 
Ham-heung, 105, 113. 
Hamilton v. Port Hamilton. 
Han River, 93, 125, 134, 168, 175, 

202. 
Hanabusa, 149, 191. 
Hankow, 318, 336. 
Hanneken, Captain von, 327. 
Hara Kiri, 41. 



Hart, Sir Robert, 179, 276, 

Hideyoshi, 86-7, 90, 190. 

Hillier, W. C, 159. 

Hongkong, 313, 317, 336, 395, 

420-21. 
Hong Sal Mun, The, 138. 
Hope, Sir J., 210. 
House of Representatives in Japan, 

V. sub Japanese Diet. 
Hsien Feng, Emperor, 238, 270. 

I 

Ieyasu, 30-1. 

Ignatieff, General, 208 ;/. 

Imbert, Msgr., 183. 

Imperial Rescripts, Japanese, 26, 28. 

India, Importance of, 8-9, 414. 

Inouye, Count, 21, 22 «, 57, 375, 
381-82. 

Intermarriage of Dominant and Sub- 
dued Races, 404. 

Islam, Conservatism of, 8. 

Ito, Count, 21-3, 27, 29, 33, 36, 62, 
68, 196. 

Iwakura, 191. 

lyemitsu, 190. 



Japan Daily Mail, The, 17, 421. 
Japan, Democracy in, 17, 30, 32. 

Effect of the War upon, 381. 

Emperor of, 26, 30, 33-5. 

Failure in Korea of, 374-84. 

Feudalism in, 14, 18, 40, 90. 

Future of, 18, 30, 31, 386-9, 

391-4, 412. 

Growth of, 13-15, 38, 54. 

Newspapers in, 17. 

Passports in, 80. 

Railways in, 13. 

Revolution in. The, 24, 30. 

Japanese Administration, 24, 30, 32-7. 

Army, 14, 39-41, 364. 

Character, 45-8, 194, 196, 412. 



44-0 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



Japanese Clans, 30. 

Codes, 59, 61-2, 67. 

Constitution, 15, 20, 26, 36, 37, 

58. 
Constitution for Korea, 374-9. 

Diet, 15-19, 20, 24-9, 32 n, 

35-7, 58-9, 61-3. 

Electoral Qualifications, 15 n, 

19. 

■ Finances, 23, 25-6, 42. 

■ Imports, 43-4, 387. 

Land-tax, 24, 55. 

Law and Law Courts, 14, 56, 

60. 

Losses in War, 365. 

Manufactures, 43-4. 

— — - Minerals, 44. 

Ministers, 16, 21, 35. 

National Debt, 42. 

Navy, 14, 30, 31, 38-9. 

Religions, 49. 

■ Reasons for War with China, 

362-3. 
— ■ — ■ Salaries, 17, 25. 

• Societies, 28, 64. 

Trade, 43, 53, 55, 177, 386-9. 

Women, 95. 

Jardine, Matheson & Co., Messrs., 

417. 
Jehol, 256, 268. 
Jesuits in China, 247, 255, 266. 
Jinghiz, Khan, 2, 230 n. 
Jinsen or Inchiun, 93 n. 
Jiyuto Party, The, 25. 

K 

Kaishinto Party, The, 25. 
Kang Hsi, Emperor, 244, 247. 
Kashgar, 328, 397, 400, 406. 
Keum Kang San, 102, 106, iii. 
Kien Lung, Emperor, 244, 249, 251, 

253> 255, 267-8, 275. 
Kim Ok Kiun, 149 jt. 
Kioto, 13, 49. 



Kirin, 251, 315, 321, 323. 
Klaproth, 229. 
Kobe, 13, 52 ;«. 
Korea, 85-217. 

Area of, 96. 

British policy towards, 213-215. 

-Chinese in, 93, 97, 115, 118-9, 

126, 174, 177, 197, 208, 217. 
Chinese Resident in, 161, 169, 

175, 207. 
Chinese Suzerainty of, 86, 120, 

139, 149, 161, 189, 190, 192, 189- 

207. 

Climate of, 90, 98, 109. 

Crown Prince of, 143, 148, 154, 

159- 

■ Effects of the Chino-Japanese 

War on, 372. 
• Europeans in, 87-8, 97 7t, 169- 

70. 

Future of, 174, 176, 182, 391. 

Independence of, 201-2, 203, 

2i4-5> 373-6. 
Japanese policy towards, 48, 

139, 150, 152, 190-7, 363. 381-4. 
in, 22 n, 86, 90, 91, 92, 

139, 149, 152, 167, 172, 176, 177, 

178, 187, 189, 190, 192, 194. 
King of, 85, 109, 140-1, 147- 

52, 158-9, 167, 203, 204, 375. 

Name of, 85. 

Obstacles to the advance of, 

98, 168, 174, 176. 
Queen of, 148, 151, 153-4, 

379-80. 

Rivers of, 175. 

Russia and, 92, 154, 176, 178, 

208-13, 214 n. 

Seclusion of, 85-7. 

Situation of, 189, 216. 

Korean Administration, 98, 99, 100, 

116, 165-7. 

Agriculture, 113, 174. 

Alphabets, 97. 



INDEX 



441 



Korean Amusements, 130, 134, 135- 

Aristocracy, 98, 100, 157-8. 

Army, 140, 144, 160-I, 163-4, 

212, 378. 

Banks, 173. 

Character, 94, 95, 97-8, 100, 

loi, 103, 104, 187. 

Classes, 98-100, 112-3, 133. 

Currency, 17 1-3. 

Customs Service, 167, 179-80. 

Dancing-girls, 130. 

• Dress, 94, 95, 107, 126, 127, 

129-30, 131-3, 157. 

■ Education, 171. 

• Envoys, 204-5. 

. Examinations, 166. 

■ Executions, 140. 

Harbours, 89-94, 213. 

Hats, 94, 13 1-3. 

Horses, no, 115. 

Houses, 1 12-13, 124. 

Implements, 136. 

Inns, 1 16-7. 

Language, 97. 

• Memorial Tablets, 115. 

Minerals, 180-3. 

■ Mints, 172-3. 

■ Ministers, 155-6. 

Monarchy, 154. 

Monasteries, 102-6, 378. 

Mourners, 132. 

Music, 105. 

Navigation, 175-6. 

■ Officialism, 28. 

Paper, 134. 

Peasant-life, 112-4. 

Population, 94-6. 

Produce, 168, 174, 177. 

Race, 94, 96-7. 

• Railvi'ays, 176. 

Rebellions, 147-54, 192, 206, 210. 

Reforms made by Japan, 374. " 

Religion, 86, 104, 107, 108, 137. 

Resistance to Japan, 379-82. 



Korean Revenue, 165, 167-8. 

Roads, no, 174. 

Scenery, 89, 91, 92, 94, I02, 

104-5. 

Smuggling, 168, 177, 179-80. 

Spirit-vi^orship, 108. 

Sport, 1 10-12. 

— — Stone-throwing, 135. 

Superstitions, 108-9. 

Telegraphs, 122, 207, 212. 

Temples, 86, 107. 

Tombs, 115. 

Trade, 170-80. 

Travel, 100-3, 109-10, 116. 

Women, 95, 98, 113, 129, 1 30-1. 

Kowtow, The, 265, 275. 

Kuang Hsu, Emperor, 238, 240, 271, 

273- 
Kublai Khan, 230 n, 247. 
Kulja, 209, 264, 278, 329, 419. 
Kung, Prince, 238-9, 262. 
Kurile Islands, 47. 
Kutien, Massacres at, 301. 

L 
Lang, Captain, 327. 
Lay, H. N., 331. 
Lazareff, Port, 92, 209 n. 
Liao-Tung Peninsula, The, 279, 332, 

365. 383- 

Libraries on Eastern Questions, Con- 
sular, 425. 

Li Hung Chang, Viceroy, 149, 169, 
179, 197, 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 
211, 223-7, 314-5, 3i7> 322, 323, 

329- 
Liturgy, Buddhist, 355. 
Liu Ming Chuan, 319. 
Liuchiu Islands, The, 408. 
Lowell, P., 88. 
Lyall, Sir A., 404, 409, 412. 

M 

Macao, 414. 

Macartney, Earl of, 229 n, 268, 275. 



442 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



Macartney, Sir H., 263. 

Maitreya, 251, 352, 354. 

Malay Peninsula, 395, 396, 397. 

Mandarins, v. Chinese Officialism. 

Mapi, The Korean, 98, 1 10. 

Marco Polo, 230 w, 248. 

Massacres in China, v. sub Mission- 
aries ; Kutien, Tientsin, Cheng-tu, 
Wuhsueh, 

Maubant, M., 183. 

Michie, A., 305 n. 

Mikado, v. sub Japan, Emperor of. 

Ming Tombs, The, 257-8. 

Missionaries in China, 247, 255, 283- 
310, 418, 

in Japan, 46, 50, 418. 

in Korea, 87, 132, 142, 183-7, 

418. 

Mitford, A. B., 41 n. 

Mixed Residence in Japan, 64-5, 67. 

Mokpo, 168. 

Monasteries and Monks in China, 
343-58. 

in Korea, 102-6, 140. 

Moriyama, 191. 

Morrison, Rev. R., 285. 

Moukden, 315, 316, 323. 

Mouravieff, General, 208 n. 

Mutel, Msgr., 185. 

Mutsu, Viscount, 22 and «, 28, 374. 

N 

Nagasaki, 14, 52 n. 

Naktong River, The, 175. 

Nam San, 121-2. 

Nanking, 118, 282, 320, 321. 

Napoleon, Fascination of the East 

for, 2. 
Nature-Worship in Korea, 104-5. 
Newchwang, 185, 282, 315, 
Newspapers, v. sub Names and 

Countries. 

English, of the East, 421. 

Ni Taijo, 119, 198. 
Niigata, 52 n. 



Novoe Vremya, The, 210, 211. 



O'CONOR, Sir N. R,, 175, 216, 273, 

424. 
Officers, Chinese, v. Chinese Army. 
Okubo, 191. 

Okuma, Count, 23, 25, 58. 
Oliphant, L., 210. 
Opium Question, The, 283. 
Oppert, E., 96 n. 
Osaka, 52, 173, 428. 



Pacific Ocean, Access to the, 394. 

Question of the, 395. 

Paik-tu-san, 104-5. 
Pak Yong Hio, 137, 376, 379-80. 
Pamirs, Chinese and the, 277. 
Parkes, Sir Harry, 60 n, 96 11, 202, 

262 n, 424. 
Party Government in Japan, v. Diet. 
Pearson, C. H. {National Life and 

Character : A Forecast), 396-412. 
Pechili, Gulf of, 222. 
Peiho River, The, 222. 
Peking, 118, 120, 127, 183, 198, 199, 

221, 227-259, 370. 

• Audience Halls at, 266-275. 

Bells of, 248, 253. 

British Legation at, 259. 

Drum and Bell Towers of, 

248-9. 

Examination Building at, 248. 

Ground Plan of, 232. 

Hall of the Classics at, 250 

Lama Temples of, 250-2. 

Observatory at, 247-8. 

Palace at, 237, 253, 255, 266, 

267, 269, 270. 

Parks near, 258. 

Population of, 229. 

Streets of, 127, 234-7. 

Summer Palace at, 253-5, 269, 

294. 



INDEX 



443 



Peking, Temple of Confucius at, 249. 

of Heaven at, 244-5. 

Traditions of, 232. 

■ Walls of, 230-3. 

Wedding Customs in, 236. 

Peking Gazette, The, 241, 271, 335. 

Perry, Commodore, 52. 

Pillars of Korea, Memorial, 136-7. 

Ping Yang, Battle of, 325. 

Port Arthur, 197, 315, 332, 365. 

Hamilton, 207, 210, 214-5, 423. 

Lazareff, 92, 209 n, 213, 384. 

Pouk San, 121, 140. 
Printing in the East, 97 «. 
Prjevalski, General, 278, 330. 
Pyong-yang, 92, 175, 181-2, 197. 

Q 

QUELPART, 87, 214. 

R 

Railway, The Siberian, 277, 279, 

316. 
Railways in China, 314-20. 

in Japan, 13. 

in Korea, 176. 

Rosebery, Earl of, 68, 214 n, 226. 

Ross, Rev. J., 88, 185. 

Russian Policy, 178, 208-13, 276-80. 

forecast in 1894 of, 384. 

towards China, 208-13 

277-80, 409. 
Russians in Korea, 92, 154, 176, 178, 

208. 
Ryong-San, 168, 175. 

s 

Saghalin, 3. 
Saigo of Satsuma, 192. 
Sak Wang Sa, 119, 139- 
Sakyamuni, 346. 
Salisbury, Lord, 59, 308. 
Sam Kok San, 122, 140. 
San Kuo Chih, The, 138. 
Satow, Sir E. M., 97 n, 424. 
Satsuma Clan, Inflence in Japanese 
Navy of the, 30-1. 



Satsuma Rebellion, 22, 31, 41 «, 192. 
Scherzer, M., 198 n. 
Sen Kuang Kio, The, 137. 
Shanghai, 46, 178, 313, 321. 
Shang-ti, 246, 289. 
Shan-hai-kuan, 256, 314. 
Shimonoseki, 13, 39, 52, 282 n. 

Treaty of, 429-5. 

Shufeldt, Commodore, 202. 

Shun Chih, Emperor, 266. 

Siberian Railway, The, 277, 279, 316. 

Siuen, Emperor, 249. 

Singapore, 396, 397, 415, 420. 

Soshi, Japanese, 28. 

Smith, Sir C, 403. 

Soul, 87 n, 89, loi, 109, 1 18-164. 

Arsenal at, 164. 

Beacons at, 122-3. 

Big Bell of, 135. 

Court at, 156-9. 

Ground Plan of, 125. 

Houses in, 123, 126-7. 

Mint at, 172-3. 

Pagoda at, 136. 

Palaces at, 140-6, 156, 161. 

Population of, 123-4. 

Royal Procession in, 160, 162-3. 

Streets of, 124, 125, 134. 

Temples in, 137-8. 

Walls and Gates of, 1 19-21, 

138-9. 

Warehouses in, 136. 

Steamship Lines in the East, 175, 

178, 212. 
Sternburg, Baron Speck von, 322 n. 
Student Interpreters, 424. 
Sungpu Murders, The, 306. 
Syel Chong, 97. 
Szechuan Riots, The, 306. 

T 

Taijo Tai Woang, 135. 
Taiping Rebellion, The, 223, 299, 400. 
Tai Wen Kun, The, 135, 142, 14S-51. 
184, 206, 374, 380. 



444 



PROBLEMS OF THE FAR EAST 



Taku, 222, 293, 314, 324. 
Tariff Reform in Japan, 44. 
Temples, Chinese, 353-5. 
Tientsin, 211, 222, 268, 322, 324. 

Treaty of (1858), 292-4. 

Convention (1885), 192-3, 205-6. 

Massacres (1870), 186, 222, 263. 

Tigers, Korean, 11 1-2. 

Ting, Admiral, 367. 

Tinmen River, The, 208, 384. 

Tokaguto, The, 186, 380. 

Tokio, 13, 14, 53 n. 

Tonghaks, v. Tokaguto. 

Trade in the Far East, British, 6, 43, 

177,415-18. 

with China, British, 281, 415. 

with Japan, British, 43, 70-81. 

with Korea, British, 177, 213. 

French, in the Far East, 43, 

281, 415. 
German, in the Far East, 281, 

415- 

-Japanese, 43-4, 177, 387-9- 

Korean, 168-9, 176-9. 

Treaties, Texts of ; ( i ) Anglo-Japanese 

(1894), 70-81 ; (2) Shimonoseki, 

429-35- 

British, with China, 269, 292. 

with Japan, 51, 68-9, 7081. 

with Korea, 60 «, 169, 178. 

French, with China, 294. 

Japanese, with Korea, 90 n, 

168, 191-2. 

with Mexico, 65. 

Russian, with Korea, 169, 212. 

with China, 208 n. 

Treaty ports of China, 276, 282. 

Japan, 13, 52, 66. 

Korea, 88-94, 168. 

Treaty Revision in Japan, 23, 27, 28, 

46, 51-69, 391. 
Tseng, Marquis, 207, 223, 225, 31 T, 

331, 402. 
Tsi An, Empress, 238. 



Tsungli Yamen, The, 201, 214, 223, 

260-4. 
Tsushima Islands, 210. 
Tung Chih, Emperor, 238, 271. 
Tungchow, 316. 
Tzu-chin-cheng, The, 232. ■ 

V 

Varat, Ch., 96 «. 
Verbiest, F., 247. 

Vladivostok, 47, 89, 92, 175, 178, 
209, 316, 

W 

Wade, Sir T., 271, 344 «. 

Wall, The Great, 256-7, 314. 

War, Chino-Japanese (1894), 194-7, 

361-89. 
Wei Hai Wei, 197, 332, 367, 369. 
Weltervree, Jan Jansson, 87 n. 
Whampoa, 293. 
Williams, Dr. W., 257, 271. 
Witchcraft in Korea, 108. 
Woosung, 293, 314. 
Wuhsueh Massacres, 304. 

Y 

Yakub Beg, 328, 397. 

Yalu River, The, 105, 11 1, 175, 197, 

365- 

Battle of, 365. 

Yamagata, Count, 22 and n, 58. 
Yamens, Korean, 99-101. 
Yarg-hwa-chin, 134, 168. 
Yellow Races, Future of the, 341, 

396-412. 
Yellow Sea, The, 89. 
Yen-king, 230 n. 
Yezo, 64. 

Yokohama, 13, 52 n. 
Younghusband, Capt. G. J., 41 7i,2'j8. 
Yuan Shih Kai, 207. 
Yung Lo, Emperor, 249, 258. 

Bells of, 253. 

Yunnan Rebellion, The, 328, 397. 







■Die E(lin,^iu;gh Geogtapliic^al In: 






.'S^ .^'». *h 







*t* a\ "^y* '..« ,W- v:^ • 



lO 












><i- 




v^^ 









^ -^^ ". 














''bv^ 



^^-^^^ 








,v ^„ 



/ ^' -"^ 



,<p ^^. 





• '^^ .-^^^ .tA^^A-'^ ^^. .^ . 







^^<^ 



























■0'? ^^ o^j§a\>r* av ■>*. 



>P^^. 
















































v-o' 




^OV^ 



* <V 










^' ^oV^ 



:* .N 



4 O, \^o iPvj "-^ 



